Arsenal target Gervinho

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:JOHAN DJOUROU believes Gervinho would represent a signing to excite Arsenal's supporters and enhance the club's prospects.

Manager Arsene Wenger is closing in on a €11 million deal for the Lille forward, and Djourou hopes he can link up with his fellow Ivorian in north London.

“I have followed a bit of the French league this season and I have to say Gervinho is a great player,” said Djourou, who was born in Abidjan but represents Switzerland, the country in which he was raised.

“I have known him for a long time and he is quick, with so much talent and good skills. He is a great, great talent and we need that because he can play as a striker, as a number 10 or on the wing. He has all the ingredients to play for Arsenal, that is a definite.”

Arsenal’s fans, many of whom crave expensive additions, have watched Liverpool and Manchester United strike first in the summer market, with massive outlays on Jordan Henderson and Phil Jones, respectively.

Wenger has made it clear he intends to be “very active” and, together with Gervinho and another creative player from Lille, Eden Hazard, he plans to sign a big centre half with Premier League experience.

He is now expected to move for Gary Cahill of Bolton Wanderers, a player in whom he has a long-standing interest. Cahill has a €19 million release clause, which Wenger is willing to pay. He also likes Blackburn’s Chris Samba.

Thomas Vermaelen, Arsenal’s first-choice central defender, who missed virtually the whole of this past season with an Achilles’ injury, should be fully fit for the start of the next one, and Cahill, or any expensive signing, would surely expect to start. Djourou, though, is philosophical.

Wenger has admitted his priority is to retain his existing stars, principally captain Cesc Fabregas, a perennial Barcelona target, and Samir Nasir, whose new contract talks are at an impasse.

“Cesc and Samir are both very close friends of mine and very good players,” Djourou said, at an event for his Kemi Malaika Foundation in Senegal.

“We are going to need them, but I am sure that if they were to leave, the manager will have some plans to replace them.”

Guardian Service