June 28

A 23-year old Spanish midfielder and a 24-year old Chilean defensive midfielder are today’s players linked with a possible move to Arsenal.

According to Goal.com, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is ready to spend £18m to sign Valencia’s Juan Mata. A versatile midfielder, the 23-year old graduated from Real Madrid’s youth academy and can play as a winger as well as in central midfield.

Let’s not forget that last summer the Spaniard confessed that he would be delighted to feature in the English Premier League adding that he admires Arsenal and the philosophy that the young players have.

In other news, Italian website Tutto Mercato Web (in Italian) reports that Juventus and Arsenal are both interested in Bayer Leverkusen’s Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo. It seems the Chilean turned down offers from AC Milan and Napoli and is – according to Bild – closely monitored by the Gunners.

And before moving on to today’s poll, a look at yesterday’s results in which we collected more than 2,500 votes. It was the second time we asked our readers to share their opinion on Ivory Coast’s Gervinho and it seems this has not changed.

The midfielder again registered an impressive 1,200+ positive votes with our readers also happy to welcome Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at the Emirates as the youngster registered more than 900 positive votes.

As always, please let us know your preference on today’s linked players and don’t be shy to join the discussion in our newly-launched Arsenal forum.

Player Profile

Juan Manuel Mata

Date of birth: 28/04/1988

Place of birth: Burgos

Age: 23

Height: 1,70

Nationality: Spain

Position: Left Wing

Foot: Left

Market Value: £22m

Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo

Date of birth: 22/05/1987

Place of birth: Santiago de Chile

Age: 24

Height: 1,80

Nationality: Chile

Position: Midfield – Defensive Allrounder

Foot: Right

Market Value: £15m

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