It’s been a fairly busy few days in terms of Arsenal talk and speculation, days which have sadly been neglected (blame the weather) of late.

So, there’s a lot to get through, including some significant progress on transfers.

Fields of Grenier

Arsenal are chasing Lyon’s 22-year-old Clement Grenier, and could have a deal completed soon. Arsene Wenger himself admitted to French TV station Telefoot that he admired the young midfielder and wished to bring him to Arsenal:

“We are following him. I like the intelligence of his play. He has interesting qualities. He reminds me of Nasri.”

Grenier has been a mainstay in the Lyon side this year, being an impressive creative presence for the Champions League-chasing side, and like Nasri can play out wide or in the middle, an area where Arsenal can only really rely on Santi Cazorla to provide creativity from. Grenier would be a useful addition, though there are certainly other areas that need strengthening more urgently.

The Frenchman’s contract expires at the end of next season, and this could be used to Arsenal’s advantage, especially with the player interested in the move.

However, the Lyon president has quoted that the price for Grenier is “the same as for Mario Gotze-37 million euros”.

I’d take that with a pinch of salt-there’s little Lyon can do if both parties want the move, and teams often overvalue their players to scare buyers off.

If you’re unhappy about the prospect of signing Grenier, watch this free-kick:

Call-up

Two of Arsenal’s Spanish contingent have been called up for Spain’s Confederations Cup squad, in rather irritating news. Santi Cazorla and Nacho Monreal will travel to Brazil for 15 days in June, where they will train in extreme heat and generally wear themselves out ahead of pre-season. Which is very annoying. Cazorla especially hasn’t had a pre-season since 2011, and could really do with a rest considering he’s a key man for Arsenal and needs to be on top form for next season.

There’s also the lingering risk of injury, but I suppose if you sign good players, you have to cope with them being called up for international duty.

Williams

Everyone’s favourite mildly underwhelming signing Ashley Williams could be heading away from Swansea in the near future. The Welsh side’s manager Michael Laudrup has admitted he could be sold to fund other transfers:

"He extended his contract not so long ago, like I did. Maybe we have to accept one player will go but not anymore. We have to strengthen to consolidate because a lot of the teams below us in the table will spend more money.”

Sounds like they’re already preparing for life without him. Although Swansea have denied contact with Arsenal, they’re definitely interested and could swoop in for a deal fairly soon.

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