Update – It seems that reports from Germany and specifically Kicker position Gustavo as a lot closer to joining Wolfsburg than Arsenal. Even if the German bid collapses, he prefers staying in the Bundesliga or even moving to a Russian team showing a lot of interest than joining the Gunners at this moment, with offers from Spain and possibly Italy also coming in.
Criticism over the Arsenal transfer policy continues, but it seems like their summer drought of money spending might be over with Luiz Gustavo being more than just a rumor, as several reports suggest the club has entered negotiations with Bayern Munich for the Brazilian.
Gustavo wasn’t in the squad as Bayern played their opening league match against Borussia Monchengladbach or their easy German Cup opener, while sitting on the bench for the entire 90 minutes against Borussia Dortmund in the Super Cup. Knee problems were the listed reason for his absence, but it seems any player in some sort of transfer tilt is allegedly injured.
There isn’t much of a chance for Gustavo to get minutes this season at Bayern. He might be a starter for the Brazilian national team, but in order to keep that status with Scolari, he has to move somewhere he’ll be a much more important part of the team.
Arsenal, as is, do have quite a loaded midfield, but none of their players are natural defensive midfielders, or come close to Gustavo’s height (1.87) and physical presence on the pitch. He’s not guaranteed a spot in the lineup right away, but Mikel Arteta as the DM isn’t an answer forever, especially with the pressure to get out of the loop that sees Arsenal finishing fourth every season increasing.
While he’s valued at around £16 million, there’s a good chance Arsenal can get him for less if Bayern’s urgency to offload a player or two to ease up on the wage bill is as great as it seems with the transfer deadline quickly approaching. There won’t be much of a discount, and in any case, Arsenal’s problem with some of these negotiations is that everyone knows there’s huge pressure on Wenger to spend some money, and everyone knows they can afford it.