Chelsea and Arsenal are reportedly weighing up a move to sign Barcelona midfielder Marc Casado. 

The Gunners entered the international break in a great position, top of the league after beating London rivals West Ham 2-0 at the Emirates. Mikel Arteta’s side are now the favourites to win the Premier League, and look a step ahead of Liverpool at the moment.

Arsenal will also be looking ahead to the January transfer window in terms of how they can improve their already strong squad to really pull away from Liverpool and take the Premier League title race into their own hands.

According to reports in Spain via EPL Index, Arsenal are keen on adding Barcelona midfielder Marc Casado in the January transfer window, as he could be available for a fairly cheap deal. The same report says that Chelsea are also interested in the 22-year-old defensive midfielder, and that the Blues are lining up a bid of around £30m for him.

Casado has made just five La Liga appearances so far this season, providing one assist. However, his minutes under Hansi Flick have been inconsistent, and so the Spanish midfielder could be willing to leave for the Premier League in search of more minutes.

Do Arsenal need another defensive midfielder?

The only question about the Casado news is whether Arsenal actually need him. As things stand, Arteta likes to play Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice both as defensive midfielders in his starting XI.

Behind them, Mikel Merino sometimes comes into the team, and they also have Christian Norgaard for cover. So, if Arsenal were to sign Casado, he would have a tough route to regular first team football, much like he has at Barcelona.

However, the benefit of signing Casado is that he’s young, and could be the long term option in midfield, with the likes of Norgaard (31) and Merino (28) being older players.

Click here to see every Arsenal player who is out on international duty currently.