Arsenal Postpone Defender Move As Wenger Plots £46m Striker Bid

With the summer transfer window in full swing, managers are working hard trying to strengthen their squads ahead of next season so we’ll bring you all the news and gossip. Today, more on Arsenal’s pursuit of Karim Benzema…

Arsenal have postponed plans to sign a new centre-back so Arsene Wenger can concentrate on putting together a stunning £46m move for Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, according to AS.

Wenger has been very quiet in the transfer market so far this summer with Petr Cech our only significant new addition to the squad but the boss admitted last week that he’s prepared to dip back into the market if the right players become available [via the Mirror].

We’ve been linked with a whole host of names in recent months but AS claim that while Arsene is keen to sign both a centre-back and a striker this summer, he’s postponed plans to bring in a new defender so he can focus on making a significant move for Karim Benzema.

The Spanish outlet suggests that the boss is desperate to finally work with the French international and Arsenal have apparently set aside £46m to try and persuade Real Madrid to cash-in on the striker this summer.

Any potential deal isn’t going to be easy to pull off as Benzema only renewed his contract until 2019 last year but the newspaper claims that while we’ve drawn-up a list of possible alternatives, Wenger will use every resource at his disposal to sign Benzema before moving on to other targets.

Arsene tried to play down his reported interest in the 27-year-old after yesterday’s Community Shield victory over Chelsea but the speculation refuses to go away and let’s be honest, the boss was never going to admit it publicly if he was plotting a move for the striker.

Obviously I’d love to see us sign Benzema as I think with him up front, we’d have an excellent chance of going all the way in the title race this season and it’s going to be interesting to see how this all plays out over the coming weeks.

Rafa Benitez has been experimenting with Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and youngster Jesse up front at different times in pre-season amid reports that the Spanish coach isn’t convinced Benzema fits in to his new style of play, so there is a chance the player may push for a move if he finds himself out in the cold.

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news

If Arsenal were to put a £46m offer on the table I think Madrid might give it serious consideration – especially if Benzema was no longer an automatic first choice starter – as they’d be able to use that money to strengthen other areas of the team.

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop but I don’t see the Benzema-to-Arsenal rumours going away any time soon and I think we’ll see Wenger really step-up his pursuit during the closing stages of the window. Will he be successful? Only time will tell…