Arsenal appear to be strong in the middle of the pitch, but if Arteta goes down with an injury who would you bring into his place? Keep in mind that Abou Diaby has been out for over two months, and Aaron Ramsey is not a great tackler. Francis Coquelin is one person that I think of, however, I do not think he is ready to shoulder the burden week in and week out.

Lucas Biglia was a prominent transfer rumour in the summer. And even late December:

"Time is running out," he told Het Nieuwsblad. "I don't have to be at a big top team, just to a bigger league. I need that if I want to play with Argentina in 2014 at the World Cup.

He is pretty strong on the ball, faster than Arteta on the pitch, a sound tackler, and can dribble the ball up before passing it. He offers Arsenal two options in the middle of the park. He can move the ball instantly with a crisp pass, or he can make a dribble before distributing. This makes him more dangerous than Arteta who is not able to outrun that many players in the middle of the park.

The downside to Biglia at the moment is that he is cup-tied to Anderlecht, but that is also part of the benefit at the moment. By bringing in Biglia to split duty with Arteta you are working Biglia into the system for next season (when Arsenal may have a better chance at things) and you are not risking a long term absence with fatigue or strain on Arteta.

Plus in Biglia Arsenal have a long term addition to the club. If he can be tied into a long contract to match the five UK lads, then a longterm platform is in place.

The price tagged, rumoured at £8.5M is not that unreasonable considering other players of similarly equal skill will cost over £10M, and Anderlecht need to balance their books. They loaned out a lot of players to help dump some wages temporarily, but need an influx of cash going into their summer spend.

We all know about Lucas Biglia, but he will be a surprise signing for some if he makes it to the Emirates.

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