‘Hopefully’… Teammate of £60m Arsenal target is hoping midfielder won’t leave in January

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It’s certainly not been a secret that Mikel Arteta would like to add another midfielder to his Arsenal squad in the near future.

And although Arsenal were expected to be quiet in January, defeats to West Ham United and Fulham have raised a lot of concern.

Despite having a very strong squad, Arteta’s team still looks one or two bodies short of winning a league title. 

And although Arsenal have been lacking in attack, Arteta seems most keen to add defensive steel to this squad.

To that point, Arsenal were strongly linked with Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha with a view to the future.

Tom Cairney hopes Arsenal linked midfielder Joao Palhinha won’t leave in near future

The £60m enforcer has been brilliant in the Premier League of late, a player who nearly joined Bayern Munich in the summer.

And when speaking to talkSPORT this morning, his Fulham teammate Tom Cairney was very keen to see Palhinha stay amid a lot of speculation.

Cairney said: “He’d kick his own grandma to win! Off the ball, I’ll be honest, he’s probably the best I’ve ever seen.

“I think his tenacity and the way he comes alive, he doesn’t lose it, his chasing down, he doesn’t just get there and put pressure on you, he goes to win it.

“Don’t get me wrong he gets a few yellow cards but to have him next to you or have him in your team is, I mean the tackle on Saka at the weekend in the box was top, top drawer.

“I don’t know, he was obviously linked in the summer with a big move and he deserved it but we’re just lucky to have him and hopefully keep hold of him.”

The perfect player for Mikel Arteta

Although Arsenal’s biggest worry is goals right now, Palhinha could solve a lot of problems.

Arteta seemingly wants to add a number six to his squad in order to free up Declan Rice to play as a number eight when wanted.

Jorginho doesn’t quite have the stature to play in the pivot week in, week out, and Thomas Partey is now often injured.

A midfielder of Palhinha’s mould could give Arsenal a ton of options in the future, perhaps even allowing for more freedom up top.

With a solid foundation behind him, Gabriel Jesus for example may consider that he can stop dropping so deep to start attacks.

There’s no doubt that adding a striker would be a good idea in January, but Palhinha could be a sensible option too, a player who may be available.

However, it seems Arsenal do have a lot of their focus on a £52m defender right now.