Sponsors Ready To Help Arsenal Land €25m Striker

As we approach the opening of the summer window clubs will be intensifying their efforts in the transfer market so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, Gooner Mac brings us news of Arsenal’s interest in Mario Balotelli.

New kit sponsors PUMA are ready to help Arsenal pull off a deal to sign €25m-rated AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli this summer, according to reports today.

Arsene Wenger is over in Brazil and is going to use his time in South America as a pundit for French TV to keep a close eye on some of his key targets as he draws up plans on how he’s going to spend his reported £100m summer ‘warchest’.

The boss is expected to bring in at least one striker this summer and Balotelli is understood to be on his list of potential new recruits alongside the likes of Mario Mandzukic, Karim Benzema, Alvero Morata and Loic Remy.

However, reports last week suggested Balotelli was currently Arsene’s No.1 striker target and we are already working hard to try and thrash out a €25m deal with AC Milan after the 23-year-old made it clear he wants to leave Serie A after being subjected to racial abuse last season.

Now, the Express are claiming today that new kit sponsors PUMA are ready to step in and help broker the deal as they are keen to pair two of their biggest clients together. We signed a £30m-a-year deal with the German sportswear giants back in January for them to manufacturer out kits from next season, while Balotelli ditched Nike for PUMA back in December 2013.

The newspaper doesn’t state in what capacity PUMA will back the deal. They could simply act as an ‘agent’ between the two camps to help smooth things over or there’s a chance they will actually help out in a financial sense, but either way it can’t hurt to have them involved.

Balotelli is certainly a controversial character and trouble seems to follow him wherever he goes, but there’s no denying his talent. The key is to keep him happy and if anyone is capable of taming the striker, it’s Arsene Wenger.

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While I’d prefer to see someone like Karim Benzema join the club, I’d be happy enough if we were to land Balotelli and €25m – which works out at around £20m – seems like a very reasonable price in today’s over-inflated market.