There was a time when Arsenal had attacking midfielders and wingers coming out their ears, but Arsene Wenger could be soon left in the unprecedented position of having hardly any.

With Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez clearly set to leave, Santi Cazorla fighting to save his career and Theo Walcott gradually disappearing from existence like one of Marty McFly’s family photos in Back to the Future, by this summer the Gunners’ squad could be looking less creative than a George Graham away fixture line-up.

And whenever Wenger tries to sign a replacement (Thomas Lemar, Raheem Sterling etc.), something goes horribly wrong.

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But the 68-year-old manager is still trying – he has no choice unless he wants to see out the final year of his contract unexpectedly reviving the ‘Boring Arsenal’ brand and undoing his entire life’s work – and he has a new attacking midfielder/winger in his sights: Goncalo Guedes.

The Paris Saint-Germain youngster was offloaded to Valencia on loan in the summer, but the Mail on Sunday says he has attracted Arsenal’s attention after helping propel the Spanish side to second place in La Liga.

PSG could let him leave permanently at the end of the season – they need all the money they can get to fulfil Financial Fair Play requirements – and Wenger has entrusted his new head of football relations Raul Sanllehi to use his “contacts” and make the deal happen.

Wenger has also not given up on Lemar. The Mail adds that the Gunners are lining up a “fresh bid” for the Monaco winger in January, although it may not be as much as the £90m offer they failed with in August.

Man Utd plot record transfer bid

Manchester United are also in the market for a rather expensive attacking midfielder in the shape (the exact shape) of Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.

The Sunday Express says United boss Jose Mourinho is “preparing” an outrageous £95m offer for the 22-year-old Lazio playmaker, who has two caps for Serbia.

Mourinho allegedly sent “spies” to watch Milinkovic-Savic in action against Sampdoria last weekend, and they were evidently so impressed that they came straight back and advised Mourinho to smash the British transfer record to get him.

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Mourinho is also set to spend January pursuing one of his old favourites, Ivan Perisic. The Sun on Sunday says the 28-year-old Inter Milan winger is “still on the market” after failing to seal a move to Old Trafford in the summer.

Perisic signed a new contract in September, but Mournino could reportedly still get his man if he meets Inter’s £45m asking price. Not this again.

Real Madrid’s campaign to buy all the Tottenham players who beat them in the Champions League continues with their alleged pursuit of Hugo Lloris. The Sunday Mirror says the Bernabeu giants will move for the French goalkeeper if Spurs fail to win silverware this season, which is not a very big if based on the past 25 years.

Elsewhere, Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho wants assurances he will be allowed to join Barcelona next summer (Daily Star Sunday), Real Madrid have “reached an agreement” to sign PSG forward Neymar in 18 months’ time (Sunday Mirror), and Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud could make a January loan move to Crystal Palace so he can secure first-team football ahead of the World Cup (Mirror). Because France manager Didier Deschamps will definitely be keeping a close eye on all of Crystal Palace’s games.