Arsenal transfer gossip: Arsene Wenger finally closes in on Yohan Cabaye
Transfers: Latest news, rumours and gossip for Arsenal FC in 2015, as Gunners move closer to signing former Newcastle captain from PSG two summers after initial bid
Eighteen months after annoying Newcastle United by offering £10 million for their then captain Yohan Cabaye, Arsène Wenger is finally closing in on the France midfielder and for the fee that Alan Pardew rejected.
Newcastle finally let Cabaye leave for Paris Saint-Germain for £19 million in January but he has struggled to win a regular starting place under Lauent Blanc this season, appearing 19 times in Ligue 1 matches, nine of them off the bench.
Although a central midfielder of Cabaye's type is no longer a priority area, the futures of Mathieu Flamini, Abou Diaby and Mikel Arteta are still unresolved and Cabaye would enhance Wenger's options.
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Arsenal will pip Tottenham's bid for Cologne's Austria's central-defender Kevin Wimmer with a £5 million offer for the 22-year-old, according to The Daily Star.
Kevin Wimmer tackles Bosnia's Edin Dzeko
It was understood that Spurs had sealed a deal for the centre-half a fortnight ago but this has not been confirmed and Arsenal are believed to be confident of gazumping their neighbours.
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Alisher Usmanov, who owns 30.04 per cent of Arsenal, has ridiculed reports that he has personally intervened to sign the £28m-rated 21-year-old Palermo striker Paulo Dybala for the club this summer and has released a statement via his company Red & White Holdings to emphasise the fact.
"Contrary to inaccurate media reports, Red & White would like to clarify that it has not made any formal or informal contact with either Paulo Dybala, his agent or Palermo football club," it read.