Arsenal will discover this week whether Gilberto Silva stands a chance of playing again this season. The Brazil midfielder is out until at least April with a back injury and tests will determine whether he needs even longer to recover.
Gilberto suffered a fractured vertebra in mid-September and Arsenal are waiting to find out whether the injury has healed. If it has, the Brazilian will still need 10-12 weeks to recuperate. If it has not, he will be ruled out for the remainder of the campaign with a worst-case scenario then seeing him need surgery.
Wenger's problems in midfield are exacerbated by the uncertain future of Edu, who is expected to join Valencia this month or next summer. The manager is keen to strengthen in that area and Lyon's Mickael Essien is on his list of targets. The French champions would want about £10 million for the 22-year-old Ghanaian defensive midfielder.
"Essien is a player Arsenal have been following for quite some time - since before he was at Lyon," said the player's agent, Fabien Piveteau. "But he has already played in the Champions League this year so he is not eligible to play for Arsenal.
"We don't think there is anything possible for the January window but we will await what happens in the summer."
According to reports from Italy, Arsenal's chief scout Steve Rowley was monitoring the performance of Milan's goalkeeper Christian Abbiati in the Italian Cup game against Palermo last night.
The 27-year-old Abbiati has fallen out of favour at San Siro after the Brazilian Nelson Dida established himself as the first choice. As a consequence Abbiati has also lost his place as Gianluigi Buffon's cover in the Italian national team.
The highly-rated goalkeeper would also be eligible for the Champions League having not appeared in the competition this season but Milan are not willing to let him go, at least until June, as they want two top-level goalkeepers.
"Abbiati is one of the goalkeepers in Arsenal's list, but Milan will not sell him if they don't find a good replacement first," said Abbiati's agent Claudio Vigorelli.
