Arsenal Prepare £15m January Bid for Newcastle United Midfielder Moussa Sissoko

Arsenal are considering a move to sign Newcastle United midfielder Moussa Sissoko in January, according to The Times.

The 25-year-old arrived at St James's Park in January 2013 and since then has been a key figure in the Magpies starting line-up. The French international has been quite impressive for Alan Pardew's side which have managed to come out of the early slump.

The Gunners will be without the services of star midfielder Jack Wilshere for the next three months with an ankle injury. Mikel Arteta is also struggling with injuries and the former Everton man is set to be out of action till the end of this year.

Arsene Wenger needs to bring in reinforcements in the midfield position as he is left with Mathieu Flamini as the only player available. The Frenchman is an admirer of Sissoko's defensive skills and is keen on bringing him to the Emirates.

The Gunners's boss is weighing up a £15m bid to secure the services of his compatriot. Newcastle are not in the European competition and the addition of Sissoko will see Wenger play him in the Champions League matches.

It was earlier reported that Sissoko had signed a six and a half year contract at Newcastle. However, the midfielder's agent Frederic Guerra admitted earlier in May that his client has 18 months left on his current deal with the Tynseside club.

"He has only a year and a half on his contract at Newcastle and we are open to all proposals," Guerra told Europsort.

Meanwhile, Newcastle suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of West Ham United on Saturday and in the same fixture, Sissoko was given the marching orders by the referee. Pardew admitted the midfielder had "lost his mind" and urged the player to learn from his mistakes.

"Moussa was frustrated he has not got the free-kick in the box, and then just lost his mind a bit, with kicking the ball away and then in the next incident is just a minute after," Pardew explained.

"It is not like Moussa, he has been outstanding for us. He has to learn from this, but he is not a malicious player, although having seen it on the replay, it does not look good.''