Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been given the green-light to smash the club’s transfer record in order to sign Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema.
The French international has been a long-term target of Wenger‘s, even since his Lyon days, but due to restricted funds because of the stadium move, The Gunners boss has never been able to manage to land the striker.
However, after paying off the stadium and spending big money in the past two seasons, Wenger could finally land his dream player.
Arsenal splashed £42million on Mesut Ozil back in 2013, before spending a further £32m on Alexis Sanchez the following season, and now, the North London club could go one better by offering Madrid £45m for Benzema.
Despite Rafael Benitez and Benzema’s agent claiming nothing will happen this summer, Wenger and Arsenal are still hopeful they can land the 27-year-old.
Madrid are in massive amounts of debt and want to sign David De Gea from Manchester United, so selling Benzema for £45m would give them the money to sign the Spanish ‘keeper.
Benzema is tempted by the opportunity of reuniting with Ozil and also living in London, but Arsenal first need to convince Madrid to sell-up.
The La Liga side could wait until they find a suitable replacement, with Sergio Aguero and Marco Reus on their radar from Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund respectively.
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt