Arsenal handed Denis Zakaria transfer boost

Arsenal are on something of a high. Since the transfer window closed, or since the 5-0 hammering to Manchester City depending on what your preferred starting point may be, the club have gone unbeaten in eight matches, winning six.

Booking their place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over Leeds extended the current run, in a game where Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Mohamed Elneny filled in for usual midfield duo Thomas Partey and Sambi Lokonga.

It was a game for the fringe players to make their mark, and while they got the job done, it was evident across many positions just why they aren’t knocking on the Premier League door.

Any side’s ‘B’ team is going to see a drop off in quality. Mikel Arteta has overseen wholesale changes in his squad since taking the reins and seeing the likes of Elneny and Sead Kolasinac featuring was a reminder that the work is far from over.

Arsenal handed huge Denis Zakaria transfer boost as Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder prefers Premier League move with Gunners interested in signing

Elneny stands out as he is due to leave at the end of the season anyway, opening the door for more midfield reinforcements. Even without his departure the calls for reinforcements in that area are loud, with a host of names linked over the summer and already heading into the winter market.

One of those is Denis Zakaria, a player who’s been mentioned alongside Arsenal for well over a year.

The Swiss international is set to depart Borussia Mönchengladbach on a free transfer in the summer when his contract expires, which has most of Europe on red alert. As per SportBILD’s Christian Falk, Arsenal are among those ‘interested’.

"“That is a clear true,” Falk told BILD when asked if Arsenal are ‘also hot’ for Zakaria.“There has been interest in the past. Zakaria is on the books of almost every top club in Italy, but he wants the Premier League. Arsenal could be a club that can’t afford them anymore but are interested.”"

What works in the Gunners’ favour is Zakaria’s preference to move to the Premier League over Serie A, where he is also courting interest from Roma, who looked at the 24-year-old as a Granit Xhaka alternative when that deal fell through over the summer.

Someone with admirable qualities in the centre of the park as a ball-carrying destroyer with an excellent reading of danger, having finally recovered from a long-term knee injury Zakaria has cemented his place in Gladbach’s midfield and is in a rich vein of form.

He’s started the last six Bundesliga matches for the club, registering two goals and an assist, while he also played a starring role in the side’s outstanding 5-0 win over Bayern Munich in the DFB-Pokal on Wednesday.

Any concerns over his potential signing have stemmed from his injury record and the possibility of him ever recapturing the form he showed a few years back, much of which have been quelled with his performances in 2021/22.

Arsenal may be ‘interested’, but that shouldn’t be perceived as much more. After all, a recently turned 24-year-old international once heavily courted by Manchester City who will be available on a free transfer, or at least a reduced fee in January, is always going to attract interest. Arsenal will be joined by most of Europe, no doubt.