Arsenal keen on Lyon midfielder Corentin Tolisso

After last summer and the news that broke on Monday, it looks like Arsène Wenger is set on getting a lot of his summer transfer proceedings started early these days.

According to reports, the Gunners boss is eyeing Lyon midfielder and French international Corentin Tolisso, who has impressed in Ligue 1 this year. The 22-year-old has notched 14 goals and provided eight in all competitions this season.

Tolisso excels at passing, finishing, and holding on to the ball; however, the jury is still out on his defensive contribution. It’s possible that Wenger envisions the Frenchman to be a box-to-box midfielder, if the manager has committed to the 3-4-3 system for next year.

While Tolisso has a number of similarities to Granit Xhaka, his addition to the team could actually end up filling the void of Santi Cazorla; the two players numbers, at least on the defensive side are comparable. In fact, he could end up being Xhaka’s best partner in central midfield.

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This being said, it would take a pretty large sum of money (around £34 million) to pry Tolisso away from Lyon. Luckily, it looks like the midfielder actually wants to leave and has named Arsenal as one of his desired destinations.

According to recent reports from L’Equipe and ESPN FC, it seems likely that Tolisso won’t be at Lyon next year, seeing as the club is definitely set to miss out on the Champions League:

"I don't know if I'll be at Lyon next year. I want to play the Champions League and the World Cup," Tolisso said after Lyon's league win over Montpellier on Sunday.

Obviously, with the World Cup coming up in 2018, Tolisso wants to make a splash in the upcoming season and establish himself as a regular in the French National Team. Depending on where the Gunners finish on Sunday, he might just be able to fulfill all those aspirations in North London next year.

Meanwhile, Turkish club Fenerbahçe is looking like the best suitor for David Ospina this summer, who has outspokenly said that he would be happy somewhere where he’s afforded the opportunity of regular football.

Ospina said: “I told my club (Arsenal) that I want to go to a team where I’ll play regularly. They know my intention.

"If the right offer comes, then I’ll happily go to Turkey.”

Photo by Alex Morton/Getty Images

The 28-year-old Colombian goalkeeper remains in contention to be his country’s No. 1 choice between the sticks for next summer’s World Cup. With a number of clubs interested, we may have seen the last of Ospina in the 2016/17 season.