Hot off the press, this.

Arsenal have made Lyon’s Maxime Gonalons their priority target for the transfer window, and have opened negotiations with the French side to sign the French defensive midfielder.

The 23-year-old has been at Lyon since the age of 10 and was made club captain this year, making 37 appearances and scoring 4 goals as Lyon made an attempt at the French title. He first came to prominence after scoring against Liverpool in the Champions League in October 2009.

Is he steel-y worth it?

Gonalons is an interesting player. He normally occupies the deepest midfield position for Lyon, and completes the most passes out of anyone in the side. He also averages around 3.4 interceptions a game. So far, so Mikel Arteta. He’s rather more of a presence than the Spaniard however.

He’s prone to breaking forward to lead attacks and at 6”1 is not easily ignored. Not quite a box-to-box destroyer, but not a waif-like orchestrator by any stretch of the imagination.

The midfielder Arsenal need?

He’d certainly come in useful, being able to play instead of or with Mikel Arteta as part of a true double pivot.

Arsene Wenger has a strained relationship with Lyon’s president, which could make any potential transfer difficult, but it’s not anything like enough of an issue to jeopardise the move.

Gonalons has 6 caps for France, but is largely kept out of the side by the likes of Yohan Cabaye and the emerging Blaise Matuidi. Keep an eye out.

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