Arsene Wenger lines up move for England defender Gary Cahill

11 April 2012

Arsene Wenger is ready to bid for highly-rated Bolton defender Gary Cahill in January after revealing he will have money to spend in the next transfer window.

Standard Sport understands that Cahill has become one of Arsenal's principal targets as Wenger examines his options for the rest of the campaign. The centre-back has been a regular in England squads since last year and won his first cap as a substitute in the 4-0 victory over Bulgaria at Wembley in September.

Cahill joined Bolton for £5million from Aston Villa in January 2008 and his reputation has grown steadily since then. The 24-year-old is comfortable with the ball at his feet and, at 6ft 2in, he would provide the Gunners' backline with a physical presence that they currently lack.

Cahill's last appearance at Emirates Stadium, when he was harshly sent off in a 4-1 defeat on 11 September, is not believed to have deterred Arsenal.

Although Wenger already has Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny, Sebastien Squillaci and Johan Djourou in his squad, the manager believes he is still light in defence. The Gunners lost Mikael Silvestre, Sol Campbell and William Gallas in the summer and with concerns over Djourou's fitness following a season-long absence with a knee surgery, Wenger is thought to favour making another addition.

Tottenham have also been keen on Cahill, particularly with Jonathan Woodgate sidelined for a lengthy period, Michael Dawson absent with injury and Ledley King unable to train regularly and picking up niggling injuries as a consequence.

The Lancashire club are expected to demand £15m for the player, especially as Aston Villa insisted on inserting a sell-on clause into the deal that took Cahill to Bolton. But Wenger is set to test their resolve with an opening bid in the region of £10m.

First-choice central defenders Vermaelen and Koscielny are both currently sidelined through injury, although £10m summer signing Koscielny has a slim chance of returning for Sunday's match at second-placed Manchester City.

Vermaelen has not played for Arsenal since the 2-1 victory at Blackburn on 28 August because of an Achilles problem.

Wenger said at yesterday's Annual General Meeting that he did not know when Vermaelen would play again only to claim later, on the club's in-house television station, that the player could be back in "two or three weeks".

The Frenchman said: "Vermaelen is ruled out for the weekend. His injury is not a long-term concern but at the start we thought it was a question of days and now it is six weeks. He will still need two or three weeks.

"We are a bit concerned but he has had a final treatment that we think could kill it."

Meanwhile, full-back Bacary Sagna is available for the trip to Eastlands after a thigh injury but goalkeeper Manuel Almunia is unlikely to be available.

The Spanish goalkeeper has still not fully recovered from the elbow injury which he sustained in the shock 3-2 defeat at Emirates against newly-promoted West Brom on 25 September.

Wenger said: "Almunia is very, very close but he is not yet completely confident on the stretch of his arm.

"He must be able to go with force into contact on the pitch and he still has some pain there."

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