Arsenal got their Yann?

A source close to Arsenal has told our very own writer Alex (@AlexFortyNine on twitter) that Arsenal and Rennes have agreed to a fee for highly rated French midfielder Yann M’Vila.

If the information that we have been provided is true the club are set to announce the deal early after the season ends.  The deal is reportedly based on a transfer fee of around £16-£18 million with added bonuses. M’Vila’s contract is reported as around £60-£70k per week and is a 4 year deal.

As with any information of this type, until the club formally announces it, even as good as the information is, it should be treated with some amount of caution. We only need remind everyone of the ‘done deal’ for Juan Mata last season.

As an editor I questioned Alex over the last two weeks on this story as he kept getting news. We won’t and haven’t presented stories of this magnitude in the past. We also know the amount of egg we can get on our face for putting it out there if it’s wrong. However, we won’t stop doing our blog the way we always have – with integrity. (Yeah, sorry I had to put that in here so people know we don’t do this every day and won’t.) And finally, remember this – mightier press outlets than this little blog have been wrong about transfers before.

But enough about that. As many of our long-time readers know I’ve been big on M’Vila for a few years. If  true, he is a big signing of the kind we need to be making to be competitive for the title. It would also go a long way to proving intent to a certain dutchman

M’Vila has represented France at every level from U16 to U21 and he has helped the Rennes academy win the Coupe Gambardella (French Youth Cup) in 2008.  Since breaking into Ligue 1 and getting his first senior cap from Laurent Blanc, the french midfielder is constantly linked with a spot in the starting XI for France.

M’Vila is a sturdy midfielder who is strong in challenges and fears no-one when it comes to making a tackle. He boasts a fantastic work-rate but is by no means just about lumbering physicality. For someone of his age he has superb vision and can be instrumental in building-up attacks from the back.

If there are weaknesses to his game it’s that he does tend to struggle against speedy players and his eye for the goal is shall we say very poor.

Where Arsenal see M’Vila playing is up for discussion and speculation but in my opinion he is the first true player who could be heir-apparent to Patrick Vieira.

If we get any more information pertaining to this deal or anything else we find credible we will continue to bring it to you.

Cheers – DAG (@youaremyarsenal) and Alex (@AlexFortyNine)

Stay Goonerish!!