Arsenal Transfer News: £8.5m Bid Rejected – Wenger Joins Chase For Ilicic

With the summer transfer window set to re-open, there is plenty of gossip doing the rounds in the newspapers so we’ll keep you up-to-date with the latest transfer rumours. Today, Arsenal are believed to have had a bid rejected for Rui Patricio while they show interest in Josip Ilicic.

Patricio bid rejected?

First up and talkSPORT are reporting that Arsenal have had an £8.5m bid for Rui Patricio rejected by Sporting Lisbon as Arsene Wenger continues to try and sign a new goalkeeper this summer.

Wenger appeared to lose faith in Wojciech Szczesny after dropping him back in March after a series of below par displays, and this lead to a number of goalkeepers being linked with a move to north London.

The latest name is Portuguese No.1 Patricio and talkSPORT suggest we’ve tabled an opening bid of £8.5m for the 25-year-old but Sporting are understood to be holding out for a fee nearer £13m for their long-serving stopper.

Patricio has spent his entire career in Lisbon and has been a first team regular since making his debut in 2008, but with the club looking likely to miss out on European football next season it seems Arsenal are confident they can lure him away this summer – but we’ll have to up our offer if we want to bring him to the Emirates.

Gunners join Ilicic chase

Next up and the Express claim we’ve joined the race for highly-rated Palermo midfielder Josip Ilicic. The 25-year-old has enjoyed an excellent season in Italy, scoring 10 goals so far, but it hasn’t been enough to prevent Palermo from being relegated to Serie B.

Their demotion will almost certainly lead to the exit of Ilicic and Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini admitted their star man is likely to leave this summer:

“Josip Ilicic is a player for big clubs so I really doubt that he will stay with us.

“We will have to talk of course but he has already told me that he will leave if he gets an offer from a big club. And I don’t doubt that he will get one.” Zamparini is quoted as saying by the Express.

It seems he wont have any shortage of takers with the Express suggesting that Arsenal have joined the likes of  Roma, Sampdoria and Zenit St Petersburg in showing a keen interest in the attacking midfielder.

Read more Arsenal transfer news

So there’s your latest dose of transfer news. Which goalkeeper do you think Wenger should buy? Would Ilicic be a good purchase? Get involved in the comments section below.