adminBorussia Dortmund’s Ilkay Gundogan and Bayer Leverkusen’s Lars Bender, will come as a massive relief to Arsenal fans after years of frugality and summers of losing their own stars. Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis promised “an escalation in our financial firepower” last week and Wenger is convinced he can transform his team into title contenders.
The Arsenal manager believes that Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement from Manchester United represents an opportunity for the club to regain some prestige and challenge for the title and the signing of Argentina striker Higuain is expected to be their most important transfer of the summer at a cost of £20 million.
Wenger is also determined to bolster his midfield and his No. 1 target is Gundogan, whose holding midfield role was crucial to Borussia Dortmund’s impressive run to the Champions League final.
Gundogan scored their penalty equaliser at Wembley, but could not prevent Bayern Munich’s 2-1 victory.
He would cost £20 million but a bid for Bayer Leverkusen’s £17 million-rated Bender is also being lined up, in case Arsenal are unable to complete a deal on Gundogan. Any one of the potential fees for Arsenal’s three targets would surpass the £15 million record transfer paid for Andrey Arshavin in 2009.
Arsenal are ready to move now, having already been disappointed to miss their first target, Dortmund’s Mario Gotze. The club had an earlier £25 million bid for Gotze turned down but were hopeful of returning this summer with £32 million, which would have activated his release clause. But Gotze announced in April that he would be joining Bayern.
The north London club are determined to move quicker in the transfer market ever since the debacle of 2011, which saw them lose Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri and scramble to replace them on the last day of the transfer window.
While Arsenal are confident of securing Higuain, there is still interest in him from Juventus, who have lost out to Chelsea in the race to sign Fiorentina’s Stevan Jovetic.
Wenger has said that this summer is the first for two years in which he expects to keep all his key players. He has a reserve fund of around £70 million to spend, although that has to cover wages as well.
In Higuain’s case that is likely to be £150 000 a week or almost £8 million a year, making him Arsenal’s top earner. Gundogan (22), who has seven Germany caps, is seen as the perfect fit for the holding midfield role Wenger wishes to fill and his staff have scouted more extensively than ever before in the Bundesliga.
But Gundogan may be difficult to prise away from Dortmund, with Real Madrid having expressed an interest in signing him in a year’s time.
If that is the case, Wenger will move for Bender (24) also a Germany international who has 14 caps and whose twin brother Sven also starred in Dortmund’s Champions League run.
Arsenal will search for a centre-half and are willing to listen to offers for club captain Thomas Vermaelen.
Meanwhile, new Everton boss Roberto Martinez insists Marouane Fellaini is going nowhere.
The Belgian midfielder is wanted by Arsenal, who are keen to trigger his £22 million release clause, and has also been linked with Chelsea and Manchester United. But Martinez said: “I don’t think it is an issue. You are not talking about a player who is out of the squad or in negotiations with another club.” — Mailonline.
Online Reporter