Arsenal, Chelsea and West Ham all interested in bringing Ligue 1 enforcer to the Premier League.
Arsenal, Chelsea and West Ham United are all competing to sign Etienne Capoue from Toulouse, according to both the Times and Daily Star.
The France international is out of contract in summer 2014, and Toulouse are eager to get as large a fee as possible for their star man.
To do that, they will have to sell him as soon as possible, for the longer his contract runs down, the less valuable he becomes to Toulouse.
What Toulouse will hope is that the three English clubs involved start a bidding war, raising Capoue’s price in competition with one another.
There is certainly a case that each team requires an enforcer in midfield.
Chelsea are currently deploying John Obi Mikel and central defender David Luiz in that position, with Ramires and the departing Frank Lampard occasionally filling in.
West Ham are aware that Mark Noble and Mohamed Diame will not be able to play every game – particularly with the latter having a reported £4 million release clause.
Finally, Arsenal play Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere alongside each other in a double pivot in most games, with Francis Coquelin and Emmanuel Frimpong not deemed sufficient quality to play regularly.
Arsene Wenger’s links with the French market could prove the difference.
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