Talksport claim that Arsenal are set to be disappointed, as they will miss out on signing Barcelona’s Ibrahim Afellay.

The Dutch winger is currently on loan at German side Schalke, and impressed recently with a goal against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Having been linked with him a few times in the past, this article claims we are still interested in competing for his signature at the end of the season.

Afellay is the latest Schalke player to be linked with the club, following rumours about Lewis Holtby and even stronger ones around Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

However, the Barca man seems to be enjoying his time in the Bundesliga, and has hinted that the move will be made permanent in the summer.

“I feel very comfortable at Schalke. At the season’s end, we’ll talk about a permanent deal.”

Afellay is certainly a talented player, but perhaps not the safest option for us right now. He hasn’t played a great deal of football over the last couple of years, partly due to injury and partly down to some high class competition for places at Barcelona. The article only mentions our interest in passing, which suggests to me that it’s not particularly concrete. Huntelaar seems the most likely signing from Schalke, given the intensity of the rumours.

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