Arsene Wenger's options in light of Francis Coquelin's long-term layoff

With Monday's news that Arsenal defensive midfielder Francis Coquelin will miss three months with a serious knee injury suffered during the Gunners 2-1 loss to West Brom, Arsene Wenger faces a crisis in terms of deep-lying, middle-of-the-park players.

Related: Coquelin to miss 12 weeks with knee ligament injury​

Coquelin's return from loan at Charlton Athletic midway through the 2014-15 season lifted an Arsenal side desperate for a defensive-minded midfielder. Since his reintroduction to the first-team, the man affectionately known as Coq has been one of the first names on Wenger's team sheet, cementing his place as one of the Premier League's best defensive midfielders during the process.

To compound Coquelin's long-term absence, the club are also without Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Danny Welbeck, Mikel Arteta, and Tomas Rosicky. Of the aforementioned, only Wilshere and Arteta would be adequate deputies for the fallen Frenchman, and even at that, Wilshere is better suited further up the pitch and Arteta has the pace of a sectional sofa and the turning radius of an aircraft carrier.

As the old adage goes, you can't fit a square peg in a round hole. In this case, the pegs are Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey, and the hole is a defensive midfield spot.

Seventeen-year-old summer signing Krystian Bielik and Glen Kamara are a few years away and, for all his moxie, Mathieu Flamini is simply not the calibre of a starting defensive midfielder on a title-winning side.

With the January transfer window on the horizon paired with the long-term nature of Coquelin's injury, let's take a look at some possible additions:

Grzegorz Krychowiak (Sevilla):

Under contract at Sevilla until June 2019, prying the Polish international away from the twice-defending Europa League champions may prove to be too much for the typically frugal Wenger, though the ends may justify the means in this case.

To Arsenal's advantage is the fact that Sevilla is done and dusted in the Champions League and a Europa League spot appears doubtful, sitting two points behind Borussia Monchengladbach with a game to play. Couple that with a poor showing in La Liga and the Andalusians could be willing to part with the 25-year-old defensive midfielder.

Sevilla may also be willing to sell their 29-time capped international in lieu of the club record £7-million summer signing of Stoke City defensive midfielder Steven N'Zonzi, though that seems like a peculiar tangent of logic for anyone that's seen the angular Frenchman play.

Ignacio Camacho (Malaga):

Having already bought Nacho Monreal and Cazorla from Malaga, surely Wenger has created some contacts at the southern Spanish side. If that's the case, an interest in defensive midfielder Ignacio Camacho may have some value.

Camacho is set to return from a muscle ailment on Dec. 21, and at 25 years old, would be an ideal fit despite a slew of injuries for an Arsenal side littered with Spaniards like Monreal, Cazorla, and full-back Hector Bellerin.

The Zaragoza-born, right-footed, middle-of-the-park man is under contract until 2019, but Malaga does sit rock-bottom on an underwhelming nine points with a dismal record of two wins in 11 matches. That could be enough to motivate his sale, especially knowing the demand Wenger has for a defensive midfielder if he's willing to loosen the purse strings a tad.

William Carvalho (Sporting Lisbon):

William Carvalho's rumoured move to the Emirates has been so widely speculated, it's become boring, with the 23-year-old offering that he'd fancy playing for Arsenal. The Sporting Lisbon midfield linchpin is under contract with the club, and would not come cheap, with an estimated €45-million release clause acting as the main obstacle in Wenger's way.

"I prefer not to say too much, but there is a club with which I've always been fond of: Arsenal. Because of Thierry Henry, a player with whom I have always enjoyed watching," Carvalho has said.

Both young and skilled on the ball, the Portuguese international meets the profile of an Arsenal player and recent contract negotiation difference between he and the club he joined in 2011 could see Carvalho make his dream move during the January window.

Other potential options:

Christoph Kramer (Bayer Leverkusen): Boasting a notable 86-percent pass completion rating, Leverkusen's Christoph Kramer has reportedly been on Wenger's radar for years. Under contract until the end of 2019, the 24-year-old central midfielder is valued at somewhere between €12 - €15 million.

Granit Xhaka (Borussia Monchengladbach): Not a traditional defensive midfielder by definition, Monchengladbach's Granit Xhaka has proved capable of playing in a deep-lying midfield hole and does appear to enjoy clattering tackles in the mold of Coquelin. Xhaka, 23, has a contract which expires at year's end, and discussion for an extension with the North Rhine side hasn't developed further.

Josuha Guilavogui (Atletico Madrid, on-loan at Wolfsburg): Another Bundesliga-based option, Wolfsburg's Josuha Guilavogui is a poor man's version of Gilberto Silva. A lanky defensive-midfielder that has showed poise on the ball, the 25-year-old is under contract at Atletico until 2018, and it remains to be seen if the capital club has a long-term interest in the St. Etienne youth product.