With Sebastian Squillaci injured and Thomas Vermaelen suffering yet another setback in training as he tries to come back from his chronic achillies problem, it is looking increasingly likely that the manager will have to dip into the January market to sign a center-back.

The manager has been looking at center-backs for over 12 months now, last January Sol Campbell came back on a short-term deal and the option to re-sign him was there in the summer, but Arsenal delayed and Sol went off to Newcastle – he now wants out of there.

Arsenal have tabled bids for Phil Jagielka, Phil Jones of Blackburn, and Per Mertesacker over the summer (so I’m told) and all of them were rejected. Arsene was still down by one player on his ideal number of center-backs even after bringing in Squillaci.

Lets take a look at some of the options available to Arsene and the prospects on them arriving, whilst also looking at what happened in the summer:

Phil Jagielka was the number one defensive target for us in the summer. I revealed that we launched a £6 million bid for the defender which was swiftly rejected by Everton. They wanted upwards of £12 million and Arsenal seriously considered going back in for the player but deemed him over-valued. He is now off the radar completely apparently according to my sources.

Chance of signing 3/10

Per Mertesacker was also the subject of significant interest from us last summer after we failed in the bid to get Jagielka. Like Everton, Bremen also looked into the possibility of a part player part cash deal with Tomas Rosicky being the player they wanted – Arsenal rejected this – and Bremen rejected their £10.7 million offer for the defender. We didn’t go back with another offer but are still monitoring him. Milan were interested too.

Chance of signing 6/10

Phil Jones of Blackburn was also the subject of a £10 million offer at the end of last summer, which was flatly rejected according to the Lancashire Telegraph. Jones has been intensely watched by Arsenal scouts over the past year or so but is currently sidelined with a long-term knee injury.

Chance of signing 0/10

Emir Spahic was another player who Arsenal asked after in the summer and we were certainly talking to him. Talks broke down at a pretty early stage though.

Chance of signing 0/10

Chris Samba wants out of Blackburn and would bring with him the very attributes we have been crying out for for years. The price wouldn’t be all that high and he would certainly be interested in joining a Champions League club. Personally I would like him to join but there has been zero movement on our part so far. His name has not even cropped up. I wouldn’t rule out a cheeky bid though, especially as he wouldn’t command the first team spots that will belong to Djourou and hopefully Vermaelen if he returns from injury.

Chances of signing 7/10

Gary Cahill has been the subject of intense Arsenal interest for the past year. The sticking point however, is Bolton’s asking price. They want upwards of £15 million for him when Arsenal would only be willing to pay between £10m and £12 million. Bolton need the money so there is some leverage there on our part but Cahill would want a regular starting spot and whilst Vermaelen is injured that is fine, however, when he returns it could cause some issues. Good ones, mind. I just can’t see it though, especially not after having shelled out £10 million on Koscielny not six months ago.

Chances of signing 5/10

Sol Campbell has been given permission to leave Newcastle. Arsene expected him to sign on the dotted line in the summer but was disappointed. Will he give him another chance? I hope not.

Chances of signing 4/10

The fact is that Arsenal had a dreadful summer with their transfer targets. There were probably more rejected bids than ever before, and whilst money was certainly an issue with most of them – they did aim very high in trying to snare Pepe Reina! Interestingly at one point last summer Wenger looked very hard at trying to re-sign one of our three out of contract defenders when we had had no success at all really in the transfer market. Earlier on in the summer Arsenal also looked at buying one of the best defenders around, Thiago Silva of AC Milan. He was the subject of a bid from Real Madrid in the summer and it also had ramifications to any potential deal for Mertesacker who was interesting Milan who were looking at options to replace Thiago if he went. We were quoted a price of £25 million. Fanciful, to say the least.

The issue at center-back has been long-running now. Players have been scouted, asked after and bid for and not much progress has been made. Squillaci was a panic buy from Arsene and you can tell that by the fact he is a poor defender. They needed strength in depth and got the depth but not the quality.

I do feel Arsenal want to buy now considering injuries and Vermaelen’s long-term prognosis not looking all that good. The question is, do they want to stump up the cash?

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