Arsenal’s title chances look to have been weakened by the sale of two of their star players in Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure. Despite arguably their main striker leaving, the Gunners still have a number of attacking options available including Robin Van Persie, Nicklas Bendtner, Carlos Vela, Jay Simpson, Andrei Arshavin and Theo Walcott. However, the club are still in need of a defensive midfielder and another top class centre-back as the likes of Johan Djourou, Philippe Senderos, Mikael Silvestre and Alex Song have not proven themselves good enough at the top level. Two cut-price Argentines could be the answer to Arsene Wenger’s needs and available for a reasonable fees compared to some of the stars moving this summer.

Lucas Biglia: Defensive Midfield Star Brilliant in Belgium

Lucas Biglia is the highly talented star of Belgian league runners-up Anderlecht. The 23-year-old’s agent Barry McKintosh has confirmed the player is awaiting moves from a number of interested Premier League clubs. He told Skysports.com, “We know there is interest in Lucas, and they know that he is keen on moving to England.”

“Lucas wants to play for Argentina, and he knows playing in England is a fantastic showcase for him to display his talents.

“He has already shunned offers to move elsewhere. He is good friends with Javier Mascherano having played with him in all the youth teams and he has seen what a big success he has been in England.

“He would love to play with Javier again at senior level, and we think that is very achievable.”

Biglia has proven himself to be a major hit in three seasons in Belgium where he has won one league title, one Belgian Cup and one Super cup. This has led to interest from the likes of Ajax, PSG, Fenerbahce, Lazio and Deportivo La Coruna.

He began his career in his homeland for Argentinos Juniors where he made 17 league appearances (11 starts) before moving to Independiente where he went on to make a further 49 league appearances (43 starts). This prompted a move to Anderlecht despite bigger European clubs making offers. The reasoning behind this move was the fact that the club assured him of first team football as well as the opportunity to play in the Champions League where he could make a name for himself rather than sit on the bench. There was also the added problem of the player not having played for his country or holding an EU passport thus a move to the Premier League would have been unlikely. However, that is no longer a problem for any English suitors.

The Argentine has been a key player for Anderlecht ever since making 93 league appearances (91 starts) whilst scoring 4 times. He was also named Belgium’s Young Player of the Year in 2007 after his first season for Anderlecht. In April this year Biglia finally received a European passport enabling the star to finally get his move to the Premier League. Reports in the Belgian press suggest a price tag in the region of £6-7m will be enough to sign the midfielder which will alert an increasing number of clubs.

The 23-year-old was part of Argentina’s victorious U20 World Cup winning squad in 2005 where he played alongside the likes of Fernando Gago, Sergio Aguero, Pablo Zabaleta and Lionel Messi. However, unlike those illustrious team-mates he has yet to break into the senior side but is expected to be a major player at the 2010 World Cup.

Biglia is an accomplished midfielder who can play either as a holding defensive anchorman or more as a playmaker. Like Mascherano he is highly competitive but has an excellent disciplinary record. Just 13 bookings in three seasons suggests he is level headed and an extremely clean tackler. In Belgium, the player is often compared to AC Milan star Andrea Pirlo for his excellent passing range, calm personality and ability to make time for himself in congested areas of the pitch.

The Argentine is not the most aggressive of defensive midfielders but his cultured play and reading of the game would certainly fit into the Arsenal style and tactical set-up.

Nicolas Otamendi: The ‘New Roberto Ayala’

One of the stars of the recent Argentinian Clausura Championship wasVelez Sarsfield’s young centre-half Nicolas Hernan Otamendi. The 21-year-old’s impact in the Clausura title race has been such that the likes of Real Madrid have been named as interested suitors and the player himself has broken into Diego Maradona’s international set-up.

Otamendi only made his Velez debut in May 2008 as a late substitute in a 2-1 home win v Rosario Central. However, it was the 2009 Apertura Championship where the youngster proved his worth. He made a total on 17 league appearances (all starts) as Velez finished as champions, two points clear of Huracan. Unsurprisingly the Velez defence had an outstanding record with Otamendi in the side conceding just 13 goals in 19 league games.

Of the 17 matches he started in the Clausura Championship, the team kept 9 clean-sheets. These statistics and the dominant nature of Otamendi’s performances have led to his quick rise from youth team player to highly-rated International.

The player’s disciplinary record is also very good after just three bookings in his short career. The 5 ft 10 central defender was called up by Maradona for a friendly match with Panama in May which was made up from home-based Argentinian players which was won 3-1. Otamendi played the full 90 minutes and such was his performance that he again played the full 90 minutes of the 2-0 World Cup qualifying defeat in Ecuador in June.

Due to Otamendi’s lack of height and playing style he has been likened to the former Valencia legendary defender Roberto Ayala. It’s of no surprise that a number of Serie A clubs have already begun to track the player including Inter, AC Milan and Lazio. However, the Premier League is also full of clubs looking for a solid centre-half who’d suit Arsenal, Man City, Spurs or Aston Villa. Unlike some South American youngsters who are catapulted to fame, Otamendi seems to be very level-headed. He still lives in his humble family home on the outskirts of Buenos Aires and takes a bus to training every day.

The player’s main attributes include his physical strength which is conditioned from his love for boxing. Like Ayala and Fabio Cannavaro, the Argentine reads the game well and uses his speed to anticipate opposition moves. He is renowned for his excellent tackling ability and has become the star of the Velez team in a short time. His manager Ricardo Gareca was glowing in his tribute to him, “He plays like a veteran. In centre-backs, cases like this are very rare.”

The Velez Football Director Christian Bassedas also praised him, “You watch him on the pitch and he gives you the idea that will eat up the opponent striker in every ball.”

Clubs may have to move quickly as big spenders Real Madrid have shown a strong interest although they yet to bid, “I wish it would have been like the papers say, but Real have not offered €20million for Otamendi,” said Velez president Fernando Raffaini.”It’s true that I had a meeting with (Real director) Jorge Valdano, we spoke about many things, but he didn’t make an offer at any point.

“We had a conversation and he said that Otamendi could be a good player for Real Madrid, but all we spoke about was thinking about the future.”

An early bid of £8m is expected to be enough if the Gunners did make their move before the various other big European clubs make their bid for the next big Argentinian defensive star.

Would Arsenal fans like your club to sign Nicolas Otamendi & Lucas Biglia? Do you think he would be a good acquisition for your club? Let’s hear your views.