Arsenal Tracking Roma Defender Mexes?

*

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been linked with a January move for French International defender Philippe Mexes at Serie A club AS Roma, according to reports.

Despite, Wenger stating in public that his own French International defender William Gallas will not be leaving the Premier League club in January. After being stripped of the captaincy at The Gunners following his outburst to the press about his team mates at the Emirates Stadium recently. It is widely believed that 31-year-old Gallas will leave Arsenal in January.

Serie A giants Juventus and AC Milan have both been linked with the former Chelsea player, with a reunion at Juve under Claudio Ranieri, who signed Gallas for Chelsea, while in charge at Stamford Bridge in 2001 looking the most likely.



This has led Wenger to start his own search for a replacement for Gallas and he has placed Roma central defender Philippe Mexes on his list of targets to replace Gallas at the Premiership club, with a January move for the former Auxerre player being mooted.

26-year-old Mexes has been at the Giallorossi since joining from French side Auxerre in 2004 and has made 120 appearances in Serie A for Roma during his time at the Stadio Olimpico. With the Frenchman, who has been capped 11 times by France a pivotal figure in helping the Italian side finish runners up to Inter Milan in the Scudetto last season.

West Ham: "Behrami Will Not Ever Go To Roma"

• 
  

West Ham United have ruled out a return to Serie A for summer signing Valon Behrami, with Hammers sporting director Gianluca Nani adamant that the Swiss International “will not ever go to Roma”, who have been linked with the winger in the media.

Behrami arrived at Upton Park in a £5.5million deal from the Giallorossi’s bitter rivals Lazio in the summer. With Roma coach Luciano Spalletti said to be a keen admirer of the versatile Swiss player, despite Behrami scoring the winner in the Rome derby that all but ended Roma’s chances of winning the Scudetto last season.

Apart from it being unlikely that Behrami would return to the opposite side of Rome, Nani has declared that Behrami will not leave the Premier League club and that it would be a waste of time to presume otherwise.

“Behrami will not ever go to Roma,” Nani told Laroma24.it.

“As I've repeatedly said, the player won't leave, and people who presume the opposite are wasting their time.”

Arsenal To Make January Swoop For Aquilani? - Chelsea, Man City & Juventus Also Linked

• 
  

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been given encouragement in his quest to sign Alberto Aquilani from Serie A team AS Roma after reports in Italy have claimed that the Italian side maybe forced to sell the midfielder in January due to mounting debts at the Stadio Olimpico.

Wenger has been tracking Aquilani for over a year and is understood to want the Italian to replace Mathieu Flamini, who left the Emirates Stadium for AC Milan in the summer. The Giallorossi had previously claimed that Aquilini would not be leaving Roma, with Chelsea, Manchester City and Serie A giants Juventus also linked with the Italian International.

24-year-old Aquilani has yet to sign a new deal with Roma, although his current contract does not end until 2010, with the Gunners reportedly ready to take advantage of the financial problems at Roma and make an offer for the midfielder in January.

Aquilani is a boyhood Roma fan and turned down the chance to join Chelsea when he was just 16, making his debut for the Roma first-team in 2003 and helping them achieve second place in Serie A last year, but now looks set for a move away from La Magica in January, with Arsenal in the Premier League the likely destination.