German Midfielder Lowers Wage Demands To Push Through Proposed €29m Arsenal Move

The summer transfer window is now open for business and it’s expected to be a busy few weeks as managers strengthen their squads ahead of next season, so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, Gooner Mac brings us the latest on Arsenal’s pursuit of Sami Khedira.

Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira has lowered his wage demands to try and finally force through a proposed €29m move to Arsenal this summer, according to reports.

Khedira has been strongly linked with a move to the Emirates this summer and reports from Spanish newspaper Marca earlier this month suggested that we were close to securing his signature after supposedly agreeing a €29m deal with Madrid.

Further reports claimed the potential move then stalled after the 27-year-old demanded wages of £150,000-a-week after tax to make the move to North London.

However, it seems Khedira is desperate for the deal to go through as the Metro are citing reports from Spain that state the German international has now lowered his wage demands to £134,000-a-week to try and convince the Gunners to play ball.

Whether Arsene Wenger is going to be prepared to match that salary remains to be seen, but if these reports are accurate it’s another indication that Khedira is keen to make the move to Arsenal this summer.

Earlier this week Lukas Podolski dropped a huge hint that his compatriot wanted to join him in North London after saying that he didn’t have to convince the midfielder to join Arsenal are he already knew ‘how much fun’ he’d have at the club.

But a deal is still some way off as even at £134,000-a-week, Khedira would be one of Arsenal’s highest ever earners and it’s unclear whether the club would be prepared to sanction such a wage or move on to other cheaper targets such as Morgan Schneiderlin.

The newspaper report claims that if Khedira can’t agree a deal with Arsenal, then he’ll see-out the remaining year of his contract at the Bernabeu and leave on a free next summer. I wouldn’t expect us to wait until then to try and pick him up for nothing as he’ll be demanding even higher wages this time next summer if he’s a free agent.

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As it stands, I’d still prefer we went for Schneiderlin as not only is he the less expensive option, he also has vital Premier League experience and is more of a defensive midfielder than Khedira, and I think we need a player who’s prepared to sit and do the dirty work in from of the back-four, but we’ll have to see what the boss decides.