Arsenal
Arsenal Hoping To Beat Man Utd To World Class Striker With Late £35m Move
Arsenal are hoping to beat Man Utd to the signing of Karim Benzema this summer and are ready to make a late £35m move if he falls out-of-favour at Real Madrid
With the summer transfer window finally open for business, managers are working hard trying to strengthen their squads ahead of next season so we’ll bring you all the news and gossip. Today, Arsenal eye a late move for Karim Benzema….
Arsenal are hoping to beat Manchester United to the signing of Karim Benzema this summer and are ready to make a late £35m move if he falls out-of-favour at Real Madrid, according to the Express.
Benzema has been at the Bernabeu since joining Madrid from Lyon in 2009 and enjoyed another productive year last season with 22 goals in 46 appearances but his future has been called into question following the arrival of Rafa Benitez as manager.
The Spanish boss is being tipped to hand Cristiano Ronaldo a more central role this coming season with Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez offering support from out wide and if that’s the formation he does go with, it will leave Benzema out in the cold.
We should get a better indication of how Benitez is planning to set-up during pre-season but if Benzema does find himself on the bench, then I’m sure it will make him question his future – particularly with the 2016 European Championships on the horizon – and it appears there are clubs in England waiting to pounce.
The Express claim that Arsenal have made the French international one of their key targets and are prepared to wait to see how his situation unfolds over the coming weeks before launching a late bid for his signature.
The newspaper suggests that Manchester United will also be keen on signing Benzema but Arsenal are apparently ready to pay £35m to ensure the 27-year-old heads for North London should he give any indication he wants to leave Madrid during the closing stages of the window.
This news comes shortly after Spanish radio station COPE claimed that Arsene Wenger has personally phoned the striker to discuss a potential move to the Emirates so it appears Arsenal are lining-up what would be a sensational late coup.
Wenger has been fairly quiet in the transfer window so far with Petr Cech his only new addition to date but it looks like the Gunners boss is prepared to bide his time to land the players he really wants, and Benzema would be an excellent addition if they could pull it off.
Like many, I think Arsenal are a world class striker away from being genuine title challengers and I’d put them right among the favourites if they could sign a player of Benzema’s caliber.
However, I wouldn’t discount Man Utd from the running just yet as Louis van Gaal is also in need of striking reinforcements with Robin van Persie set to join Fenerbache [via the Daily Mail] and Benzema would be the perfect replacement for the Dutchman at Old Trafford.
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We’ll have to wait and see how things develop but I’d love to see the former Lyon striker come to the Premier League and it will be interesting to see who wins the race for his signature if he does look for a move away from Madrid this summer.
