Arsenal are looking to strengthen their forward line by signing French striker Karim Benzema, who could be allowed to leave Real Madrid with only a year left on his contract. It isn’t the first time that the North London club have been linked with Benzema, and this time Wenger could finally land his man. Real Madrid, on the flipside, are reportedly open to selling Benzema because the Frenchman can still command a big transfer fee, with Manchester United also interested.
A third of Real Madrid’s deadly trio alongside Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema has scored 22 goals and provided an impressive 13 assists in all competitions this season. His impressive numbers means his sale will generate a huge sum of cash inflow for the Spanish club and could be used to acquire the services of Luis Suarez.
The apparent interest of Los Merengues in Suarez, arguably Europe’s deadliest frontman, has gone on for nearly a year now. The Uruguayan is apparently the object of Florentino Perez’ desires. Perez may have vetoed the sale of Bezema in the past, but is now willing to give up the Franco-Algerian in a bid to sign Suarez and assemble what would be a truly devastating trio up front. A trio worthy of the galacticos tag.
Arsenal had appeared to have made contact over possibly signing Benzema last summer, but the sale of Gonzalo Higuain to Napoli - whom Arsenal were also reportedly interested in bringing to the Emirates Stadium - meant that Real Madrid were unwilling to let go of one of only two recognized strikers in the first team.
Wenger is also pursuing other options, including Bayern Munich’s Mario Mandzukic, who could be out the door at the Allianz Arena with Robert Lewandowski’s imminent arrival in the coming season. Wenger has, however, been thwarted in his attempt to sign either one of Diego Costa and Josip Drmic, with the former increasingly close to concluding his long awaited move to Chelsea and the latter already confirming his signature to represent Bayer Leverkusen next season.
Olivier Giroud has been Arsenal’s main striker this season. His impressive displays early on have been plagued by dips in form, with fatigue playing a big role. Neither Nicklas Bendtner or Yaya Sanogo have proven to be good enough to give Giroud some respite, though the latter has started in the last three rounds of the FA Cup and could be given the nod in this weekend’s final.