Gunners 'hold talks' over Alvarez transfre to prevent tactical drought

Arsenal are currently top of the Premier League and Champions League tables as Mikel Arteta's side go in search of silverware to end their drought.

Arsenal are back in Premier League action this weekend when they take on Manchester United, looking to extend their lead at the top of the table. The Gunners are seven points clear of their nearest title rivals in Man City, who have strengthened their squad this month.

Mikel Arteta's men are yet to bolster their first-team ranks in the January transfer window, but have sanctioned Ethan Nwaneri's departure for Ligue 1 side Marseille. There could be further deals completed by the end of the window, with the Gunners linked with both incoming and outgoing transfers.

Andrea Berta splashed the cash in the summer to strengthen Arteta's ranks and are still in with a chance of winning four trophies come the end of the season. With that in mind, Mirror Football takes a look at the latest Arsenal transfer news and speculation.

Arsenal hold Julian Alvarez talks

TalkSPORT claims Arsenal have held 'exploratory talks' to sign former Man City star Julian Alvarez, with Atletico Madrid reportedly open to selling the Argentinian striker. The forward, who signed for the La Liga club for €100million (£86.8m), was signed by current Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta during his time in the Spanish capital.

The Gunners chief has a strong relationship with the striker but will face competition from Barcelona for his services. Alvarez still has four-and-a-half years left on his deal and won't come cheap.

He's scored an impressive 40 goals in 85 appearances for Diego Simeone's side, though no transfer fee has been suggested as of yet. Speaking last month, Arteta hinted his side could be active in the current window and said: "The window is there and I mean we are Arsenal and we have to be looking at it, 'Okay, what do we need?'

"And we have to be actively looking and then, whether we can do it or not, that's a different story. But our job is to always be very prepared because something can happen, so hopefully it'll be very positive. When you look across the other clubs, they have 24 or 25 squad players.

"Although we have had more injuries than expected, some of them not avoidable, we want to be better and we know how important the part of having the right availability with players is going to be this season."

Zinchenko latest

Ajax’s director of football Jordi Cruyff is said to be in direct talks with Arsenal boss Arteta in order to push the deal for Oleksandr Zinchenko over the line. The Ukrainian defender has spent the first half of the season on loan with Nottingham Forest but looks set to return from that loan and head to the Netherlands.

According to Voetbal Primeur, Cruyff is pushing the Gunners to complete a deal. The report claims the director of football spent three hours in the car driving from Barcelona to Villarreal to watch that match before calling Arteta to make the Zinchenko deal happen.

Earlier this week, reports claimed the Arsenal loanee was set to be recalled to the Emirates, prior to a loan move to the Dutch giants, however, it's now being reported the Gunners are looking to offload Zinchenko on a permanent deal.

Serie A a 'possible destination' for Arsenal star

Reports in Italy claim AC Milan and Juventus are keen on a move for Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus. Calciomercato IT claim the 28-year-old, whose contract runs out in the summer, would be available for a fee in the region of €20million (£17m).

Inter Milan were also keen on Jesus in the past but their interest has reportedly dwindled. Jesus has struggled with his fair share of injuries during his time in North London and missed the start of the season with an ACL injury that he sustained last season.

Since returning to action, he's scored three goals and notched one assist in 12 games in all competitions for the gunners, in just 415 minutes of football.