Arsene Wenger will be handed £20million in January to help rescue Arsenal’s season.
And with that cash, the Gunners boss will prioritise a new central defender after it became clear his side are drastically short in the position.
Wenger has also accepted he must capture a new holding midfielder, but he is likely to wait until the summer when he will have a larger budget.
Signing a centre back is the most pressing issue, with Wenger’s decision not to replace Thomas Vermaelen proving a major mistake after the Gunners were hit by a string of injuries.
Left back Nacho Monreal has been played as a makeshift central defender following injuries to Mathieu Debuchy and Laurent Koscielny.
Arsenal’s problems in defence were underlined last week when they threw away a 3-0 lead against Anderlecht in the Champions League, then lost 2-1 to Swansea on Sunday despite being 1-0 up with 15 minutes left. Arsenal will discuss their defensive options during a scouting meeting this week, as revealed by Sportsmail.
Celtic’s Virgil van Dijk (left), West Ham’s Winston Reid, Aston Villa’s Ron Vlaar and Manchester United’s Chris Smalling were all considered in the summer.
Vlaar and Reid could both be available in cut-price deals because their contracts expire at the end of the season.
lOscar has signed a new five-year deal with Chelsea.
The 23-year-old, who joined from Internacional in 2012, has become a key player for Jose Mourinho and scored 11 goals last season.
The Brazil midfielder has added four more goals in 15 matches this term and he said: ‘I have enjoyed playing at Chelsea for two years. Now I have five more, so I am very happy.’ – Daily Mail