Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Arsenal Rekindle Mertesacker Interest, Sneijder Hoping for Inter Stay

Arsenal has rekindled their interest in Per Mertesacker, who has been a transfer target for the club in the past. Arsenal showed their interest in the Werder Bremen defender last January, but the deal could not progress through.

Arsene Wenger may not have regretted signing Mertesacker immediately, but would have done so during the final stages of last season. Many attributed Arsenal's spectacular collapse in all four competitions after the defeat to Birmingham in the Carling Cup to the lack of proper defensive cover. Wenger is hoping to not make the mistakes of last season by focusing his attentions on signing quality defenders this season.

So far, Gervinho might have been the only high profile signing, but Arsenal is linked with plenty of defenders as we speak. Arsenal, who has been looking for the perfect defender to partner Thomas Vermaelen, has shown interest in players like Roger Johnson and Bolton's Gary Cahill.

Signing Mertesacker, however, seems to be a tough proposition now. The defender is currently on the sidelines following a heel injury, which reduces the chances of him passing a medical. To make matters worse, Werder Bremen do not seem to be in a hurry to sell the player, who has amassed 75 appearances for his national team so far.

This experience of performing at the highest level possible has made Mertesacker one of the top transfer targets for the English club. Werder Bremen is also interested in offering him a new contract, according to their general manager. Mertesacker has not spoken about leaving the Bundesliga for the Premier League. Therefore, everything now remains on Arsenal to make a good offer to tempt both the club and the player.

It is going to be nearly two years since Wesley Sneijder moved to Inter Milan, but transfer stories regarding the player are yet to subside. They started the moment he arrived for a reported £13 million, a bargain that many clubs missed.

In his two years at Inter Milan, Sneijder has won everything that is on offer and even made an appearance in the World Cup finals. These probably indicate signs of an extremely well settled player. However, this has not been the case at all, as he is responsible for some of the top transfer rumours of every transfer window since 2009.

Manchester United was one of the top suitors for the Dutch international, but any transfer interest was soon quelled. This was mainly due to the signings of Ashley Young, Phil Jones and David de Gea. Alex Ferguson parted with a lot of cash for signing these three players, which made signing Sneijder out of the question given the well-documented financial troubles affecting the club.

However, the retirement of Paul Scholes means that United does not have a high-class central defender who can replace him right away. Sneijder does sound like the perfect option, but will United register a formal interest in him? Sneijder, though, says the Italian Serie A and Inter Milan suits him the best.

Vitamin C Scarlett Johansson Christina Ricci Missi Pyle Jessica Alba

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