Arsenal Willing To Meet £11m Asking Price For Bundesliga Defender – Report

Arsenal are believed to have entered the race to sign Kyriakos Papadopoulos with the north London club willing to stump up £11m for the defender's signature, reports claim.

Arsene Wenger was handed a £70m transfer budget at the beginning of the last transfer window, but the manager failed to spend all the money given to him by the board in the summer months, parting with cash only for Real Madrid midfielder Mesut Ozil.

Reports have since claimed that the Arsenal manager still has a great deal of money left in preparation for the January transfer window and as well as a big-name striker he is hoping to find more depth in the defensive area.

Papadopoulos was believed to be a Liverpool target in the summer but the Reds have now adequately strengthened their backline after bringing in Mamadou Sakho, Kolo Toure and Tiago Ilori over the course of the window.

And now the Express are reporting that Arsenal are willing to pay Schalke's asking price to part with one of their top defenders, with the Greece international set to cost the Gunners around £11m.

After Arsenal landed Ozil in the last hours of deadline day, Wenger admitted that he was open to the prospect of signing more players.

The Gunners have so far had a successful start to the season and are two points ahead of top four rivals Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea in the Premier League table but whether the side can last the season given their lack of squad depth will be the question for Wenger.

Papadopoulos joined Schalke from Olympiacos in 2010 and has since become an integral part of the team and their push for Champions League and Bundesliga success. The 21 year old signed a new deal with the club keeping him in Germany until 2016 at the end of last year but is believed to be open to a move to England.

Wenger will be able to see the youngster in form again in this season's Champions League with Schalke facing Chelsea, Basel and Steaua in the Champions League group stages this year.