adminAtletico have money to spend after selling Radamel Falcao to Monaco for £51m and think £17,5m will tempt Arsene Wenger into giving them Cazorla.
While Wenger and most of his squad are on tour in Vietnam Cazorla is not, having been given extra time to rest after his exertions at the Confederations Cup.
Marin was hoping to speak to Dick Law, the Arsenal executive who deals with transfers and who is also not in the Far East with the squad.
Atletico wanted to sign Cazorla last summer from Malaga but could not then match the £16,5m Arsenal paid. But having brought in Cazorla’s good friend David Villa from Barcelona, the Spanish club are determined to carry on building.
Arsenal would be loath to accept an offer for one of their best players — Cazorla was a revelation, scoring 12 and setting up 16 goals last season.
They are looking at adding to the squad with the signing of Luis Suarez or Gonzalo Higuain, not losing stars as in previous years.
That makes a deal unlikely but Atletico are hopeful money will talk.
Suarez’s agent has told suitors to start the bidding at £40m for the Liverpool striker, who is known to be unsettled. Arsenal were willing to offer £35m, which now appears to fall far short of the estimate.
The Gunners will also be alert after Wayne Rooney indicated he is about to submit a written transfer request at Manchester United, though the England striker is thought to favour Chelsea if he decides to leave Old Trafford.
But Arsenal could be left reeling from a double setback after their top two attacking targets were linked with a swop deal involving Real Madrid and Liverpool.
Desperate for reinforcements up front, Arsenal manager Wenger has been striving to prise Higuain away from The Bernabeu and has also lodged an unsuccessful bid for Liverpool’s Suarez.
One of them will end up at The Emirates and solve a goalscoring problem that has seriously undermined their credentials as genuine title challengers. — Mailonline.
Online Reporter