Arsenal Looking to Bolster Ranks with Two German Internationals

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is considering raiding the Bundesliga for two German internationals in Schalke's Lewis Holtby and Bayer Leverkusen attacker Andre Schurrle.

Arsenal already have four German players in their squad with Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski regulars for their country, while Wenger has recently handed debuts to teenagers Serge Gnabry and Thomas Eisfeld.

The Bundesliga has proved a fruitful market for Wenger with all four players arriving from German clubs. Now the Daily Mail has claimed that Arsenal will look to add to their squad in January by moving for Schurrle and Holtby.

Leverkusen forward Schurrle was close to moving to the Premier League in the summer when Chelsea made an offer of £20million, however, the offer was rejected and he has continued to impress in Germany.

The 21-year-old has an impressive record for Germany, with seven goals in his 18 appearances, and has excelled for Leverkusen, playing a crucial role in the 2-1 win over Bayern Munich last weekend.

Schurrle can be used as a forward or a winger, with the Mail suggesting that he could be a replacement for Theo Walcott who has still been unable to agree a new contract and could leave for free at the end of the season.

Hotlby is in a similar situation at Schalke as his contract runs out at the end of the season and he is free to talks to clubs outside Germany from January in order to sign a pre-contract agreement.

The midfielder is just a year older than Schurrle at 22 and he also become a German international under Joachim Loew.

He has often been linked with a move to England as his dad is English and Holtby has admitted that he grew up dreaming of playing in the Premier League.

Earlier this week his agent, Markus Noack, claimed that Holtby had an offer from a English club as he considers whether to leave Schalke.

"Lewis is very good at Schalke but above all there is an English club which has made a very interesting proposal," Noack told calciomercato.com.

Holtby particularly impressed last week when he was instrumental in helping Schalke earn a 2-0 win over Arsenal in the Champions League game at the Emirates.