Arsenal To Move For Saint-Etienne's Blaise Matuidi & Inter’s Patrick Vieira – Report

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger could be set to dip into his transfer windfall for the first time this summer, with a move for Saint-Etienne midfielder Blaise Matuidi.

Wenger has signed centre-back Thomas Vermaelen, but now has fresh funds after the sales of Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure raised an estimated £40 million.

Matuidi's name has been associated with a move to north London several times before, with reports emerging both last summer and in January linking the player with a move to the Emirates Stadium.

Saint-Etienne's sporting director Damien Comolli, a former Arsenal scout and Tottenham Hotspur director of football, has recently admitted it would be hard to refuse an offer from a top club for Matuidi.

According to The Daily Mail, Wenger may now launch a bid for the defensive midfielder, who is rated at around €6.5 million (£5m), with Patrick Vieira also returning to the club from Inter to mentor the new signing.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp had been poised to swoop for Vieira, who no longer features in Inter boss Jose Mournho's plans, but Wenger is thought to be set to offer the Frenchman a return to the red side of north London as he searches for some much-needed experience.

Redknapp is understood to have all but admitted defeat in his attempts to take Vieira to White Hart Lane, with the France international likely to jump at the chance to return to the Gunners.