Yann M'Vila: Gunners Smart to Spring for French Midfielder

Arsene Wenger isn't waiting for the summer transfer market to tear his Arsenal side apart before he makes his own moves this year. The Gunners' boss has already moved quickly on a pair of long-sought targets, FC Koln striker Lukas Podolski and now (perhaps) Rennes midfielder Yann M'Vila.

According to Jeremy Wilson of The Daily Telegraph, Wenger is on the verge of signing the 21-year-old for what would be a club-record transfer fee of £17 million, surpassing the £15 million paid to extract Andrei Arshavin from Zenit St. Petersburg in 2009.

Surely, the Gunners hope that M'Vila will (or would) be a better fit than Arshavin, who's since rejoined Zenit on loan after falling out of favor at the Emirates Stadium.

By all accounts, M'Vila is a fantastic holding midfielder, and given his age and his nation of origin, he fits the usual profile of an Arsene signing.

Except for his price, of course. Spending so much to bolster a position already manned rather ably by Alex Song would seem suspect, and is to some extent. However, a midfielder of M'Vila's quality figures to grant Wenger a much-needed dose of tactical flexibility in the midfield, as well as a player who might ultimately replace the aging and oft-injured Mikel Arteta.

With M'Vila in tow, the Gunners will finally have another defensive midfielder to provide support for Song amidst a glut of players who prefer to push forward (i.e., Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Tomas Rosicky, Abou Diaby and Arteta). Emmanuel Frimpong (who tore a knee ligament while on loan with Wolves) and Francis Coquelin are both promising players, but lack the top-flight experience that M'Vila sports.

The deal is not yet finalized and likely won't be until after the season, but with M'Vila and Podolski presumably on board, Arsenal's summer is already off to an infinitely better start than the one that saw Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy leave amidst chaos in 2011.

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