Gunners target: Bolton's Gary Cahill (left) in
action against Blackpool yesterday
Arsene Wenger is ready to
make a £10million bid for Bolton centre-half Gary Cahill in January as he tries to
shore up Arsenal's leaky defence and prevent their title
challenge from fading away in the new year.
The Gunners went top of the Premier League for two hours
yesterday after winning 4-2 at Aston Villa, only to be knocked off
by Manchester United's 7-1
demolition of Blackburn.
Wenger, though, is desperately short of experienced central
defenders and the long-term injury to Belgian Thomas Vermaelen has
exacerbated their problems.
Cahill, 24, is now their No 1 target after his superb form this
season has helped Bolton into the top five, a place cemented by
their 2-2 draw at home to Blackpool.
Arsenal are likely to to start the bidding at £10m though
Bolton, whose debts have risen to £93m, will initially demand as
much as £18m for a centre-half who made his England debut in
September against Bulgaria.
Wenger tried to sign Everton's Phil Jagielka last summer and is
believed to have bid £10m but the player has since signed a new
contract at Goodison.
Cahill, however, has thrived under manager Owen Coyle, whose
insistence on passing football has demonstrated the player's
ability to bring the ball out of defence as well as defend in a
robust manner.
All those attributes have commended him to Wenger as the best
option to make an immediate improvement to his team.
Arsenal have been unable to fill the gap created by Vermaelen's
Achilles injury, with Laurent Koscielny and Sebastien Squillaci,
who both arrived in the summer, struggling to settle in.