Arsenal could turn to summer recruit Aaron Ramsey to solve their central midfield quandary. Manager Arsene Wenger admitted he fought off fierce competition to sign Ramsey, 17, from Cardiff City and following the departures of Mathieu Flamini, Alexander Hleb and Gilberto Silva, there is an urgent need for a midfielder.
Ramsey, ordinarily, is a winger, but Wenger, talking exclusively in the official Arsenal magazine, revealed that he believes the Welshman could be the answer.
"We watched him throughout the whole season," said Wenger. "We were always on the case, but unfortunately we weren't the only ones because Liverpool, Man United and Everton were strongly behind the case."
Ramsey is set to make his first-team debut in a friendly at Barnet today and Wenger added: "It was a big satisfaction for us that we were able to beat these teams to signing him.
"Overall he can play wide, he can play centrally. I think in the future he will be a central midfielder. How is down to him and down to us on how well we work with him. In my mind though there are no restrictions on his development, because he has played a lot already."
Wenger, who has signed only one other player, Marseille's Samir Nasri, has also criticised the way some clubs have conducted their transfer business in the open, with particular mention of Real Madrid and their courting of Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo.
"If you don't show respect to other clubs football is moving in the wrong way. You cannot come out like [president Ramon] Calderon has done at Real Madrid with Manchester United and tell them you cannot stop a player from leaving."