After unsuccessful attempts to sign Wayne Rooney, Luis Suarez and Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain in the summer, it's beginning to look like Arsenal may get his new striker in January. Although it will probably be none of the players mentioned. A movement by one of them however, could be the trigger that that fires the deal for the Gunners.
Karim Benzema has apparently been highly recommended by Arsenal's German former team mate Mesut Ozil, and a bid of some ?22 million odd is thought to be likely to persuade Los Blancos to release the 25 year old. The Frenchman is likely to be surplus to requirements at the Bernabeu after January as Madrid seek to add a top line striker to their squad. as mentioned above, the club is thought to be preparing a massive ?50 million bid for former Gunners' target Luis Suarez, and as the little Uruguayan remains keen to move on from Anfield, it could provide him with an ideal opportunity.
Suarez to Madrid, and Benzema to Arsenal, all sounds very neat, but the potential fly in the ointment is that Liverpool remain reluctant to sell their talismanic player. Suarez is currently the form striker in the Premier League, and the nascent partnership he has with Daniel Sturridge is promising great things for the Anfield outfit. Reds' manager Brendan Rodgers will not easily be persuaded to part with the player. Should news of a potential become public however, as is often the case with moves from the Bernabeu - witness the Bale escapade, for example - it will be an open invite for Suarez to make his desire to move plain. Whether Rodgers would then be prepared to stand out a player who may reasonably be feeling that he has had his ambitions squashed a second time is a debatable point. Even if the Suarez deal does not go through though, Madrid will have other irons in the fire to add to the squad, and retain the potential of playing a front three of Ronaldo, Bale and di Maria is an enticing prospect. in either aspect, it's thought that Benzema will be regarded as surplus to requirements and available.
The Gunners have been both excellent and lucky this season, and this will not have escaped the attention of Wenger. their excellence is self explanatory in the form displayed and the comfort in the format currently be deployed by Wenger. The luck has come in where they have managed to keep central striker Olivier Giroud fit and firing. the danger of only having one top line striker was exposed when a semi-second string side was deployed against Chelsea in the Capital One Cup tie. Although much of the vaunted Gunners midfield was present, having back-up striker Bendtner at the focal point of the attack, was anything but sharp, and easily subdued by the Clues' second string defence. An injury to Giroud of any seriousness would inevitably weaken the Gunners attack, and Wenger is astute enough to know that he can't push his luck with this.
Should the Gunners manage to secure Benzema, whether Suarez moves to the Bernabeu or not, it will not only confirm the Gunners' re-entrance into the top echelon of European clubs, but establish them as genuine challengers for the Premier League title.
Source: DSG
Source: DSG