Cardiff City midfielder may offer solution to Arsenal’s woes

Arsenal’s Premier League hopes are fading fast after a defeat to Stoke City but if the Gunners want to be firing on all cylinders next season then a summer move for Gary Medel could well be in order.

The north London side are now a distant 20/1 to win the league following their 1-0 loss to the Potters in a game that was characterised by a lack of bite in the Arsenal midfield against a Stoke side who seemed all too happy to revert back to the Tony Pulis tactics of old.

Mathieu Flamini has previously filled that void for the Gunners, but with Wenger preferring to bench the Frenchman for their trip to the Britannia, it was the Potters who came out on top and now look increasingly unlikely to face relegation with Ladbrokes offering 20/1 on the club going down.

But while a Premier League title looks an unlikely prospect, Arsenal should not ignore the opportunity to beef up their midfield come the summer, with Cardiff City’s Gary Medel likely to be available come the conclusion of the current campaign.

Second from bottom and three points from safety, the Welsh club are looking increasingly doomed to go down, with odds of 1/4 available on them being relegated from the Premier League.

Demotion could see Vincent Tan instigate a summer clearout in a bid to cut costs and erase some of the perceived mistakes of Malky Mackay’s reign at the club.

Tan has made no secret of his dissatisfaction with the Scot’s summer transfer business, which included an £11m move for Medel.

Injuries have curtailed the impact of the Chilean so far at Cardiff, but with the midfielder back to full fitness and eager to impress ahead of the World Cup, Arsenal and Arsene Wenger could be treated to more glimpses of the kind of guile and dogged determination that has come to define Medel’s game.

Though unlikely to be a patch on club legend Patrick Vieira, the 26-year-old could add some much needed steel to the Gunners’ midfield and with Cardiff in free-fall he could be available for a cut-price fee.

While the search for a new forward dominates the thoughts of many Arsenal fans, a solution to their midfield woes may be waiting just across the border.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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