Lazio ace Hernanes has said that he wants to join Premier league club Arsenal in the summer.
The 26-year-old has become one of the hot properties in European football after impressing with Lazio in the Italian Serie A this season.
He has been one of the main reasons for Lazio to be challenging near the top of the table for the Champions League positions. Even after suffering a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Juventus during the weekend, the club are in a position to finish in the Champions League positions ahead of the likes of Udinese and Napoli. So far, Hernanes has scored eight goals for Lazio this season and has also created two other goals.
Arsenal are going to strengthen their midfield this season after the departure of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas in the summer. Even though they signed the likes of Mikel Arteta, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is thought to be chasing a player who will be the future of Arsenal.
At 30 years of age, Mikel Arteta is certainly a stopgap solution for Arsenal, even if he is one of the favourites to be the best midfielder at the European Championships according to the euro 2012 betting markets.
Further, the likes of Yossi Benayoun are also not the kind of players Arsenal will sign. Hernanes has expressed his desire to join a club like Arsenal even if Lazio finish in the Champions League spots this season.
It is also thought that Arsenal are not the only club to be interested in Hernanes, as the likes of the Russian megarich club Anzhi are also interested in signing the midfielder.
Lazio secured the services of Hernanes back in the summer of 2010 by paying a fee of £ 9 million. It is highly unlikely that the Italian club will demand a transfer fee lower than £ 20 million, which might rule out Arsenal with their stringent transfer structure.