Happy new year to all Gooners. We cannot claim to have had a great 2008 but let’s bring in the New Year with optimism and hope for a wonderful and rewarding 2009.

The January transfer window is wide open and there will be some activity for Arsenal. The manager has indicated that he needs to sign players, even if he didn’t want make signings, injuries to key players have forced his hand.

Gökhan Inler another on the long list of supposed Arsenal targets

We are in dire need of midfield reinforcements an there is a lot of speculation as to who we’re going to get. So lets take a quick look at who is in the running to transfer in to Arsenal’s squad.

• Mikel Arteta – Known to be a close friend of Cesc, Arteta is having another great season at Everton. He would be a great addition to the squad providing a missing bite in the middle of the park.

  Would Everton want to let him go at a time when he is single handedly keeping them in a UEFA cup place? It depends on where Everton priorities lie. At the moment the are short of strikers but that hasn’t impeded their progress in the league, selling Arteta would not be in unless the price is amazing. I can see Arsenal offering £8m – £10m and Everton holding out for at least £15m.

• Xabi Alonso – Considered the perfect replacement for Cesc, that’s where the problem with Xabi lies. Once Cesc is fit how is Alonso going to work in the Arsenal line-up? Not only that but unlike last season Xabi at the moment is arguably second only to Gerrard in importance to Liverpool title hopes. We know that Benitez wanted to offload the Spaniard in the summer, now that we are mid season I am sure Xabi’s value will have risen in Benitez’s estimation.
• Andrei Arshavin – Having priced himself out of a summer move, the Russian is prepared now to take a pay get to get out of Zenith. He is an Arsenal type of player, bags full of skill and has the uncanny ability to unlock the most secure of defences. Arshavin would be a good addition to the squad but not what I think the boss is looking for in January.

  The biggest consideration in the transfer window is to bring in someone who can make an immediate impact on the squad. We cannot afford to buy a player who is currently in his off season and will take some time just to get fit and even more to adapt to the hustle and bustle of Premier League football.

• Gökhan Inler – A hard tackling Swiss midfield enforcer, Gökhan was heavily linked to Arsenal in the summer until the player rebuffed Arsenal and chose to stay with Udinese. The Italians are keen to hang on to Gökhan and it will take an “offer they can’t refuse” to obtain the services of the talented Swiss.

There are major obstacles to overcome for Arsenal to sign any of the major figures mentioned in the media. The most likely scenario is Arsenal signing someone from another premiership club, but the choices a limited. Unless Ivan Gazidis is willing to part with a huge chunk of cash then the likes of Arteta and Alonso will not be playing home games at the Emirates.

Nothing in this transfer window will surprise me, Wenger might pull off a coup and get in 2 amazing players or he might end up not buying anyone. We can only watch and hope that it’s the fromer rather than the latter.