ARSENAL TRANSFER RUMOURS: Cazorla, Sahin, Van Persie and Shaw Involved In Recent Speculation

Arsenal could be welcoming two new midfielders to the club within the next couple of weeks as manager Arsene Wenger looks to bolster his squad in time for the start of the new season. The Guardian reports that the club remain confident of signing Spanish international Santi Cazorla from Malaga, while a season-long loan deal is also expected to be wrapped-up for Real Madrid's unsettled Nuri Sahin.

Arsenal have bid £16 million for Cazorla as uncertainty persists over the state of the finances at his La Liga club. Wages have gone unpaid to players and a recent visit to Spain by a representative of the club's Qatari owners failed to shed any immediate clarity on the situation. There is little doubt that the sale of Cazorla would not be sanctioned for a relatively meager £16 million were Malaga's finances in healthy shape.

A deal for Sahin would appear, in theory, to be more straightforward. The Turkish 23-year-old barely featured for Real last season following his move from Borussia Dortmund and was offered by the club as part-exchange in an attempt to sign Luka Modric from Tottenham earlier this summer.

AS reported last week that a big Premier League club was poised to take Sahin on loan for the next campaign. According to the Guardian, that club is Arsenal.

The move would seem to make sense for all concerned. Sahin would have a chance of more regular first-team action, while Real get to put the player in the shop window or to potentially have his game develop ahead of a potential return to the Bernabeu the following season. For Arsenal the move seems ideal given further bad news concerning Jack Wilshere's recovery.

Having missed the entirety of last season with an ankle injury, the England midfielder suffered a knee injury in May and Wenger has now confirmed that the 20-year-old will not return until October, at the earliest.

Looking to ensure that Arsenal are not undone by injuries as they were last term, Wenger is also reportedly looking to strengthen his defense with a move for Southampton's Luke Shaw.

The Daily Mirror reports that the Gunners had the 17-year-old left-back watched in a pre-season friendly against Ajax on Sunday. The move from Southampton to Arsenal has become a well-trodden path in recent years with Wenger also snatching up Saints youth products Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Recent days have also brought further speculation about the future of Arsenal's want-away forward Robin van Persie. The Daily Mail has claimed that Juventus have been so deterred by Arsenal's demands for the Dutchman that they have ended their interest.

"Talk of our real interest in him seems excessive to me," said Juventus director Giuseppe Marotta.

"A top player is not only judged by how much he costs.

"It can also mean a player who costs less but on the pitch shows an absolute value."

If those reports are true then it would appear to leave just two possible destinations for Van Persie: Manchester rivals United and City. According to the Sunday Express, Van Persie favors a move to United but will demand that his wages match the £220,000-a-week paid to United star Wayne Rooney.