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Arsenal are riding the crest of a wave in the Premier League this season, and are well-placed to win the title after winning back-to-back-to-back silver medals.

It’s been a long time coming, and this envious position is a result of hard, meticulous work from Mikel Arteta and his team. Arsenal are rock-solid at the back, industrious in the middle and crafty up top, arguably boasting the most complete team in Europe.

But with title rivals Manchester City closing in on Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo ahead of the January transfer window, Arteta has made it clear that he’s ready to plug any gaps in his squad, with a midfielder being eyed.

Arsenal consider winter midfield upgrade

Arsenal lack defensive depth, with a number of Gunners stars out injured. Technical director Andrea Berta also continues to search for a left-sided forward, but Arteta is also keen on bringing a centre-midfielder over to the club.

Mikel Merino, for example, flattered to deceive during Arsenal’s recent win over Aston Villa, and with Declan Rice missing that one out due to injury, the Emirates side might want to pounce on one of their central targets.

Just after Christmas, it emerged that Arsenal have been keeping tabs on Napoli midfielder Scott McTominay, who has been a revelation in Italy but may be somewhat disgruntled in Naples.

According to Caught Offside, the Gunners are ready to rival Manchester United, the 29-year-old’s former employers, for his signature in 2026, and it is expected to cost them around £60m.

Why Scott McTominay would be a Merino upgrade

McTominay has bloomed into a remarkable, talismanic player since leaving Manchester United and joining Napoli, someone who could make more of an impact in the Premier League than Merino. That’s no discredit to the Spanish star, rather, an illustration of the Scottish hero’s quality.

Arsenal gave Aston Villa a hiding before the New Year, but Merino did drift through that one, slightly incongruous beside the fluent Martins in the middle. Football.london saw it fit to hand the 29-year-old a match-low 5/10 rating.

That’s not to say that Merino hasn’t been indispensable at times since moving to the club from Real Sociedad in 2024, but in McTominay, Arteta would land a slight improvement who could have a significant impact in affecting the subtleties of a title race against one of Pep Guardiola’s sides.

After all, the 2024/25 Serie A MVP has changed the narrative that dogged him during his Old Trafford days, hailed by content creator Adam Joseph as being a “true superstar of European and world football”

The two players are actually quite alike. Data-driven platform FBref liken Merino to McTominay, and it’s clear to see why. It’s also easy to read that McTominay has a more rounded game, more progressive on the ball and crisper in his distribution.

McTominay vs Merino (past 12 months)

Stats (per 90)

McTominay

Merino

Goals scored

0.37

0.39

Assists

0.13

0.24

Touches

43.21

42.27

Shots taken

2.53

1.75

Shot-creating actions

2.27

2.55

Pass completion (%)

84.4

76.5

Progressive passes

3.42

4.04

Progressive carries

1.46

0.86

Successful take-ons

1.17

0.40

Ball recoveries

4.07

4.25

Tackles + interceptions

1.83

2.64

Aerials won

1.85

2.97

Data via FBref

Once described as a “physical monster” by ex-Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær, McTominay has the grittiness to match the glamour, and it is for this season that he would be such an interesting addition to Arsenal’s outfit, adding a different dimension. In Serie A this season, he has averaged 5.5 duels per game.

Subscribe to the newsletter for Arsenal transfer analysis Curious how midfield additions could tilt a title race? Subscribe to our newsletter to access deeper transfer insights, tactical context, and data-driven comparisons that unpack how potential signings might reshape Arsenal’s prospects.

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But perhaps most critically, McTominay has a big-game presence that could help tip the odds for Arsenal as they chase down football’s biggest prizes.

It’s important that Arteta uses any titles secured this season as a springboard for a sustained period of glittering success. Merino is a core part of this project, but Arsenal have reached a position from which they can be picky.

If it is deemed that a midfield upgrade is needed in the not-too-distant future, then McTominay would represent the subtle upgrade who can make all the difference for a side with greater ambitions than most.

Related Modern day Vieira: Arteta's 9/10 lieutenant is driving Arsenal to the title

Arsenal secured a title-defining victory over Aston Villa in the Premier League.

Posts ByAngus Sinclair

Defending SA20 champions MI Cape Town failed to complete the tournament’s highest successful chase in their two home games and have also stumbled attempting to hunt down the biggest target in Paarl. They remain winless after four games and lost a thriller at Boland Park, where they were defeated by one run to remain at the bottom of the table.Victory was sweet for their noisy neighbours, Paarl Royals, who started well and scored briskly to reach 181, their highest score at this venue, and then defended it fiercely on a slow pitch. Most pleasing for Paarl will be the return to form of their young opener Lhuan-dre Pretorius, whose T20 career-best 98 anchored their innings and the way their bowlers stuck to the task.A target of 160-plus had only been successfully chased in the SA20 at Boland Park once before, but MICT were off to a good start. They were 109 for 1 after 12 overs before Ottneil Baartman and Sikandar Raza sparked a massive collapse.MICT lost five wickets for nine runs in 18 balls and the cat-and-mouse game began. MICT needed 50 runs from the last four overs, 30 from the last two and 15 off the last one, thanks to a 51-run partnership from George Linde and Rashid Khan for the seventh-wicket. Baartman broke the stand in the final over and picked up the wicket of Kagiso Rabada to finish with 4 for 51. In the process, Baartman also became the second bowler, after Marco Jansen, to reach 50 SA20 wickets.Lhuan-dre Pretorius’ big hits took Paarl Royals to a competitive total•SA20

The openers sparkling start

The last time Paarl played at home, they were bowled out for 49, but they shelved those memories and more than doubled that score in the first half of their innings today. Pretorius and Asa Tribe combined to put the much-vaunted MICT attack to the sword. They took 13 runs off Rabada’s first over and 16 off each of Dane Piedt and Rashid’s opening overs with an array of boundaries in the V.Tribe was particularly good at attacking short balls and Pretorius’ use of his feet, especially against Rabada. The pair put on Paarl’s third-highest opening stand in SA20 history before Tribe was caught on the deep mid-wicket boundary off Rashid. Pretorius went on to register his ninth fifty in T20s and seemed set to double up.

Chasing the century

On a track that is known to slow down, Paarl were kept quiet for the five overs between 10 and 15 and managed just 30 runs despite the presence of their big-hitting captain, David Miller. In the 16th over, Pretorius slog swept Linde for six to enter the 60s, but two more quiet overs and the departure of Raza followed.Paarl and Pretorius worked their way to their last over on 166 for 3 and 84 respectively. Rabada would deliver the last six balls. He started with a slower ball that Pretorius edged wide of Ryan Rickelton for four. Then he bowled a wide. Pretorius dragged the next delivery from outside off over the leg side to enter the 90s. His partner, Delano Potgieter, ran hard for him as they took three twos of the next three balls, leaving Pretorius on 98 with one to face. Rabada’s death bowling outsmarted the 19-year-old batter, and he finished with a wide yorker that Pretorius could not make contact with.Rassie van der Dussen struck 59 off 42 balls•SA20

Remember Rassie?

Rickelton was the subject of much discussion after his T20 World Cup exclusion and began making his case with 30 runs from the first 15 balls he faced. Rassie van der Dussen, on 15 off 16 in the same time, only had an outside chance of making the national squad but served up a reminder of what he can do in a stunning takedown of Paarl’s premier seamer, Baartman, who was also left of the T20 World Cup playing group.In the final over of the powerplay, van der Dussen sent Baartman out of the ground, then over square and then over extra cover for three sixes in four balls and took his score to 33 off 21 deliveries. MICT ended the powerplay on 64 without loss and van der Dussen went on to make 59 off 42 balls.

Jason Smith in the spotlight

The biggest surprise in South Africa’s T20 World Cup squad, which was named earlier on Friday, was Jason Smith, amid many questions. Smith has only played two T20Is, was the 19th highest run-scorer in the T20 competition but has a reputation as a big-hitter. He wasn’t able to show that in Paarl. He pushed the first ball he faced from Baartman a single and then missed a cross seam delivery that he tried to whip over mid-wicket. He was struck in front of the middle and leg and wanted to review but Nicholas Pooran convinced him not to, and rightly so. Smith was out for 1 and will know all eyes will be on him as the tournament progresses. Smith was the second wicket in that Baartman over and the second in a spectacular MI collapse of five wickets for nine runs.