The Gunners look set to beat the likes of Manchester United to the signature of Karim Benzema after reports suggested that the cash from their bid was being earmarked for the capture of Marco Reus.
Arsenal had made a £31.3m bid to capture the French striker and effectively end their hunt for a strike partner for Giroud. The bid was expected to fail but the new reports seem to suggest that they could after all be successful with Real Madrid now looking to find £63m in their bid sign a player favoured by new boss Rafa Benitez due to his ability to play anywhere in a forward and midfield role. The Borussia Dortmund player has been linked with moves to several big clubs after the German club failed to qualify for the Champions League.
The 26-year-old joined Dortmund in 2012 from Borussia Monchengladbach where he has gone on to make 82 Bundesliga appearances and scoring 37 goals.
Karim benzema is certainly a world class striker and at 27 is still the right side of 30 to command a lengthy contract. A bid of £31m sounds like good value for a player that has consistently contributed 20+ goals for the past five seasons at Real Madrid.
Wenger had said that it would be ‘nice’ if they signed a new striker which certainly stimulated a lot of speculation over who might be in the pipeline with several reports claiming that Edin Dzeko was a strong candidate but few would deny that signing Benzema would be a major coup for Wenger.
Source: DSG
