The latest Arsenal target to be linked with a January move to the Emirates is the Stoke City goalkeeper Asmir Begović.

Several of England’s top clubs are known to have long coveted the 26-year-old, who has 25 caps for Bosnia and Herzegovina and recently made his 100th appearance for Stoke.

Having previously maintained the line that Begović was not for sale at any price, the Stoke chairman Peter Coates has conceded for the first time that the club would be prepared to listen to suitable offers for the club’s first-choice keeper, which Metro suggests would mean a bid in the region of £8 million.

Coates told:

“We would be reluctant to sell him because you want to keep your best players but you have to be realistic about things. You also have to take into consideration the player’s view.

“If a call came from a top European club and was attractive to him, then you have to look at it. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise to me and that’s why we have contingency plans in place with other goalkeepers at the club.”

Consistency for a problem position?

Begović joined Stoke from Portsmouth for £3.25 million in the summer of 2010 – turning down the opportunity to sign for Tottenham – and signed a contract extension in December 2011 that theoretically ties him to the Britannia Stadium until the summer of 2016.

He has been one of Stoke’s most consistent performers as the club has established itself in the Premier League and has previously been linked with Chelsea and Liverpool as well as the Gunners.

The goalkeeping position has been one of Arsenal’s weaker areas since the (initial) departure of Jens Lehmann in 2008.  Manuel Almunia, Łukasz Fabiański and Wojciech Szczęsny have all taken their turns between the posts over the last five years, but each has put in erratic displays and made some bad mistakes.

The Italian keeper Emiliano Viviano arrived at the Emirates on loan from Palermo in the summer but has not yet made a first-team appearance.

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