Arsenal are preparing to launch a 10-day shopping spree that could bring them five players, including Real Madrid's Karim Benzema and Angel di Maria, at a total cost of £80m.
Benzema has emerged as Wenger's priority signing and, following an initial inquiry to Madrid, there is growing confidence that a £40m bid would be enough to secure the France striker.Having failed with a controversial £40,000,001 offer for Liverpool's Luis Suarez, Wenger has now concluded that he must move on to other targets of "world-class" stature.
Benzema's ability to link the play and operate as a lone central striker has made him a long-term target of Wenger and, with Madrid close to completing the world-record transfer of Gareth Bale, there is a sense that they are prepared to make major sales.
Although Madrid have already sold one striker this summer in Gonzalo Higuain, there is a feeling that Spain U-21 forward Alvaro Morata is ready to step into a more senior starting role. Madrid could also still launch a bid for Suarez.
POTENTIAL
Arsenal are also keen on Di Maria, who is available and was previously put forward as a potential part of the Bale deal. Di Maria generally plays on the left wing and his arrival at Arsenal would place a major question mark over the future of Lukas Podolski, who is the subject of serious interest from Schalke, Wolfsburg and Galatasaray.
Podolski has failed to command a regular place in the team since his arrival last summer and, although he did score 16 goals last season, there were question marks over his work-rate and general contribution.
Benzema has been tracked by Wenger for many years, while chief scout Steve Rowley first began watching Di Maria before he moved to Madrid in 2010.
Although Arsenal have faced stinging criticism over a perceived lack of planning this summer, they have been working through a variety of lists that were drawn up by the club's scouting department.
Each of the club's scouts was asked to recommend two players in each position and, from that list, Wenger and Rowley have drawn up a top-five list of targets for each position.
They are also still actively looking to recruit a midfielder, goalkeeper and defender.
Bids were made this week for former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, who is now at Juventus, as well as Newcastle's Yohan Cabaye.
Arsenal have been told that Pogba is not for sale at any price but, with Cabaye keen to leave Newcastle, a new bid of around £15m is expected next week.
Paris Saint-Germain are also interested, with Newcastle having initially said that they would want at least £20m for their France midfielder.
Former Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini has also been training with the Gunners and is increasingly likely to be signed on a free transfer.
Flamini's
versatility is an added attraction for Wenger – as well as boosting his
central-midfield options in the current absence of Mikel Arteta and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, he can also cover at right-back.
Wenger has been seeking to add a right-sided defender and there has been tentative interest in Micah Richards, who has made little progress with contract talks at Manchester City and would cost around £10m. There has been no bid for Swansea City's Ashley Williams.
Arsenal also hope to add a goalkeeper before the transfer window shuts on September 2, with Wenger now focused on Valencia's Vicente Guaita. An initial bid of £6m has been rejected but Arsenal are expected to return with a new offer.
Buoyed
by the 3-0 win over Fenerbahce on Wednesday in the first leg of the
Champions League play-off, Wenger promised that the transfer window
would start "now" for Arsenal and predicted that he would be very
active.
Arsenal certainly do have substantial available
resources. They renegotiated a shirt sponsorship deal with Emirates
earlier this year and have also agreed, in principle, a new kit deal
with Puma.
Arsenal were previously locked into 10-year
commercial partnerships to secure the funding for the Emirates and will
add around £70m of annual revenue from next year with their new deals.
They had also built up a transfer budget of around £70m following major player sales over the past three years.
Laurent Koscielny is confident of returning to the Arsenal team for the north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur
a week on Sunday after hospital tests showed that he suffered a deep
cut rather than a fractured skull in Wednesday's 3-0 win against
Fenerbahce.
The France centre-back was rushed to hospital in Istanbul
after being kicked in the head while challenging Pierre Webo for a high
ball but was discharged within an hour and cleared to join his Arsenal
team-mates on their flight home. ff @smoothmedia1 nd drop ur comments
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