Arsenal transfer news: World-class midfielder targeted after Gabriel Paulista signing

Arsenal will make recruiting one of the world’s best holding midfielders their transfer priority this summer after Gabriel Paulista received Home Office clearance on his £11.3 million move to the Emirates.

The recruitment of Gabriel from Villarreal leaves Arsène Wenger satisfied that he now has sufficient centre-back options but he would still like to add a holding midfielder to his squad, with Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin the preferred target.

Schneiderlin is unlikely to be available until the summer and Wenger would prefer to wait rather than buy a lesser player now as he completes what would virtually be the final piece in a squad he has been rebuilt since the 2010-11 team of Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri.

Cheick Tioté, the Newcastle United midfielder, could be available this month and Wenger is still looking at other targets, but the likelihood is that he will wait until the summer when the options, and likely quality, are greater. There would be competition in the summer for Schneiderlin from Tottenham Hotspur and potentially also Manchester United.

Spurs had a £10 million bid rejected last summer, with Southampton valuing Schneiderlin at more than £20 million. Relations between Totten­ham and Southampton also became strained last summer over the move of the manager Mauricio Pochettino and his back-room staff, while ­Arsenal concluded a quick £16 million deal with Saints for Calum Chambers.

The emergence of Francis Coquelin, the £2 million addition of 17-year-old Krystian Bielik and the form of both Santi Cazorla and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have eased Arsenal’s immediate need in central midfield even while Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere recover from injury. In the longer-term, Abou Diaby is now likely to leave when his contract ends this summer. Arsenal would also listen to offers for Mathieu Flamini, who has one year remaining on his deal. Arteta, the club captain, has agreed to stay for at least another year.

Gabriel began his medical at the club’s London Colney training base after a final fee of €15 million (£11 million) was agreed with Villarreal. Subject to there being no unexpected issues in the medical, the deal will be announced imminently. Thierry Henry described Paulista as “tall and pacy”. The former Arsenal captain said: “Arsenal are going to get a young, but polished player. I’ve heard he is a special talent.”

The Home Office scheme is administered by the Football Association and there had been some concern last week at how the panel of football experts would view Arsenal’s appeal for Gabriel as he did not meet the current stipulation of having played 75 per cent of matches over the past two years for his national team. But Arsenal successfully argued that he was a player of the “highest calibre” who could “contribute significantly to the development of the game at the top level in England”. The rules are likely to be tightened in the summer, after which there would be no appeals process.

Gabriel, though, would have met even the new stricter criteria as his fee is above the proposed £10 million exemption threshold.

Lukas Podolski, Yaya Sanogo and Joel Campbell have all gone out on loan this month but Wenger is happy with his offensive options. They include Chuba Akpom, 19, who is also considering firm pre-contract offers from Borussia Dortmund, Feyenoord and FC Twente as he decides whether to accept Wenger’s offer of a new three-year contract.

Akpom made his fourth first-team appearance of the season in the 3-2 FA Cup win against Brighton on Sunday but has not yet decided whether to extend until his contract until 2018. The deal is into its final six months, meaning Akpom, who has been with Arsenal since the age of six, can be approached by other clubs. Wenger wants Akpom to stay – and has told him that he is in his first-team plans after a prolific two years in the academy and reserve teams – but it will clearly be difficult to dislodge Olivier Giroud, Danny Welbeck or Alexis Sánchez as the main central striker in the usual 4-2-3-1 system. Akpom now wants regular first-team football but will not be loaned out this January.

FC Twente and Feyenoord tried to take Akpom on loan last summer but, with Welbeck having not joined Arsenal until deadline day, he decided to stay and fight for his place. It is understood that there is also interest in Akpom from Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham and Everton.

One added attraction for English clubs in signing Akpom is that he would meet the ‘home-grown’ criteria for players. Premier League rules stipulate that each club must have at least eight players in a 25‑man squad who have been developed for at least three years in England before the age of 21.