French Eurosport are today reporting that West Ham are interested in defensive midfielder Etienne Capoue. Capoue is a player repeatedly linked and watched by Arsenal in the last year or so, though no concrete bid has come of it.

Now it seems that Arsenal's London neighbours West Ham want to sign the player.

Diame

Arsenal are interested in activating the release clause of Mohamed Diame, who currently plays at West Ham, and it's possible that Capoue is seen as a replacement for the Senegalese. However, Capoue seems to have much more of a future, being a success for France and turning in some impressive performances for Toulouse.

Capoue and Diame are both powerful box-to-box players, and it's not so much ability as power that Arsenal perhaps need. But why buy Diame when Capoue seems ready-made as a successor to Patrick Viera?

Parsimony

There are a couple of reasons why Arsenal may not be keen. The first reason that could spring to mind is that Capoue's asking price of around £8 million is too much for Arsenal's taste, which is a bit too much to take, considering the cash available. Another could be that his lack of Pl experience means as a January recruit he may not be able to make enough of an impact.

The third could of course be that Arsenal were never truly interested, but his seeming suitability to the team means he's constantly linked, like the likes of Chris Samba and Sebastian Frey.

It's a shame if he does go to West Ham, but if worse comes to worst Arsenal could just buy him from East London if he's a success. It seems odd to pass an opportunity like this, to buy a bullying type in midfield, and you wonder if other factors could be afoot.

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