All the UK papers are reporting that Arsenal are looking to do a deal for Julian Draxler this January.

The Mirror says ‘enquiries have been made to Schalke about trying to land the Gunners No.1 target this month’, while the Telegraph says Arsenal are ‘on alert’ over a possible deal.

The young playmaker has long been on Arsene Wenger’s radar and was widely tipped to be the club’s number 1 target at the end of last season. Instead he signed a new deal with Schalke.

He has a release clause which kicks in at the end of this season but with Theo Walcott out and Arsenal in need of squad additions to continue their title tilt, it’s no surprise they’re exploring the possibility of bringing him in sooner.

It’s a situation made more complicated by the fact Draxler is currently out of action with a thigh injury, so it remains to be seen if that will have any impact on proceedings.

It would be something of a risk for Arsene Wenger, bringing in a young attacking midfielder when he already has plenty of them at his disposal, but we know the manager is fond of doing things people least expect.

He’s like the Spanish Inquisition of transfers.