Arsenal transfer deadline day rumours: Morgan Schneiderlin deal falls flat, Akpom stays

The rumour doing the rounds on Deadline Day morning was that Arsenal had struck a deal to see Morgan Schneiderlin join the club for a fee of £15m from Southampton in the summer.

A typical report is this, from the Mirror: "L'Equipe are reporting that Southampton have agreed the terms with the Gunners for a summer transfer for the 25-year-old midfielder, banding around a fee of £15million.

"The Frenchman has long been linked with a move to the Emirates, but it sounds like we'll have to wait a while to see if there's any truth in this one."

OUR VIEW: It sounds like a great deal for Arsenal, but is it too good to be true? We contacted our French office and they saw no mention of this story, either in L'Equipe or on their website. Accordingly, a late move failed to materialise, with Francis Coquelin seemingly in position to make the holding midfield role his own - but that's not to say Schneiderlin isn't still a target.

Arsenal fans had to content themselves with the January arrivals of Gabriel Paulista and Krystian Bielik.

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Arsenal have kept young forward Chuba Akpom at the club, risking losing him on a free transfer at the end of the season.

Arsene Wenger is hopeful the 19-year-old will sign a three-year deal, but the player has stalled amid strong interest from the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham, as well as European sides like Borussia Dortmund and Feyenoord.

Akpom will stay at the Emirates for the rest of the season, as Wenger was reluctant to sanction another loan move with Yaya Sanogo, Joel Campbell and Lukas Podolski already departing in the January window.

OUR VIEW: The best way for Arsenal to show Akpom his future lies at the Emirates is to give him a chance in the first team. He will be keen to add to his four appearances made since the turn of the year.

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