The Daily Telegraph claims that Arsenal are to make a January bid for Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso. The Telegraph reports that a source "close to the Arsenal board" has revealed that the real reason an earlier bid failed was due to Arsenal's delay in naming a successor to vice chairman David Dein.

Ivan Gazidis will join the club as chief executive on January 1, and will apparently be more likely to try and find a way to persuade Gunners chief Arsene Wenger to actually spend some money.

"Hopefully Gazidis can come in and recognize that Wenger needs someone like Dein in his ear to reassure him that the money is there to spend," the source is quoted as saying.