Arsenal have renewed their interest in Toulouse midfielder Etienne Capoue after failing in their attempts to land Lars Bender from Bayer Leverkusen.

With Francis Coquelin off out on a season-long loan to Freiburg and Abou Diaby injured once again, a new central midfielder seems a certainty this summer. Reports last week claimed we’d seen a record £20m bid for Bender rejected by Leverkusen, with the Germans insisting their star man wasn’t for sale at any price.

talkSPORT are now reporting that the rejection for Bender has seen boss Arsene Wenger renew his interest in long-term target Capoue – who we’ve been strongly linked with over the past two or three transfer windows.

The 24-year-old has two years left on his current contract at Toulouse and he’s made it clear he wants a move so is unlikely to sign an extension, leaving the Ligue 1 outfit having to sell this summer or be forced to sell him on the cheap in 12 months time when he’ll have just 1 year left on his contract.

talkSPORT suggest we could snap him up for £8.5m but may have to fight off competition from Inter Milan, Monaco and Everton. I’m a huge fan of Capoue’s and would love to see him come to the Emirates this summer and £8.5m seems like an excellent deal, but if I had my pick of central midfielders we could realistically buy this summer, I’d go for Marouane Fellaini.

The giant Belgian has bags of Premier League experience and would offer something different to the team. But if Wenger feels he’s too expensive, then Capoue would be a decent alternative.

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