Arsenal Transfer News: Benzema, Suarez, Ba And Rodriguez Involved In Latest Rumors getdiscountz.blogspot.com

getdiscountz.blogspot.com ® Arsenal Transfer News: Benzema, Suarez, Ba And Rodriguez Involved In Latest Rumors

Arsenal’s defeat to Manchester United on Sunday again reinforced the Gunners’ lack of striking options, which is likely to see them enter the transfer market in January. Chasing in an equalizer at Old Trafford, Arsene Wenger’s only option for firepower from the bench to support Olivier Giroud was Nicklas Bendtner. The Dane, who revealed in an interview last week that he was disappointed when he was told over the summer that he would be staying at the club and that he is already preparing to leave the Emirates, made little impact and failed to get to an inviting cross in injury time.

Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski will return from injury to provide further alternatives, but neither have shown that they are up to the standard required playing through the middle. For now, the same can be said for 20-year-old Yaya Sanogo. Having failed to bring in an established striker in the summer, it is hard to think that he won’t try again when the transfer window reopens.

It seems increasingly unlikely that Arsenal will enjoy success if they return for summer-target Luis Suarez. Liverpool’s resolve not to sell the Uruguayan to a Premier League rival will not have diminished, while the Daily Mirror believes that Arsenal fear that Real Madrid are primed with a £50 million offer.

Instead, the Mirror claims that Arsenal are “closing in” on Madrid’s current striker, Karim Benzema, with a £22 million deal likely to go ahead in January if Suarez moves to the Bernabeu. The France international is said to have been further endorsed by former teammate Mesut Ozil.

Still, it would be surprise were a deal to happen in January. After a difficult start to the season, Benzema has begun to hit form, forming a lethal attacking trio with Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. And, from Arsenal’s point of view, they would be spending big money on a player who would be cup-tied for the Champions League, should they make the next round.

A similar problem would exist should Arsenal go back to try and secure a deal for Chelsea’s Demba Ba. The Gunners failed with a loan move for the Senegalese striker over the summer and the Daily Star claims that Arsenal could make a £15 million bid in January. Such a prospect is difficult to fathom. Ba will turn 29 next May and in his time at Stamford Bridge has shown that he does not quite have the quality required for teams of Chelsea’s and Arsenal’s purported ambitions.

The Daily Mirror believes that Arsenal are also interested in Southampton forward Jay Rodriguez. The 24-year-old’s form in Southampton’s fine start to the season has led to the former Burnley man earning his first call-up to the England squad for two upcoming friendlies. According to the Mirror, Liverpool are lining up Rodriguez as a potential replacement for Suarez, but Arsenal are also thought to be keen.

While he played centrally with Burnley, scoring 36 goals in his final two seasons with the Championship club, he has operated primarily on the left since joining Southampton for £7 million.

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Arsenal Transfer News: Benzema, Suarez, Ba And Rodriguez Involved In Latest Rumors

Arsenal Transfer News: Fabregas, Suarez, Lewandowski And Mulumbu Discussed In Recent January Rumors getdiscountz.blogspot.com

getdiscountz.blogspot.com ® Arsenal Transfer News: Fabregas, Suarez, Lewandowski And Mulumbu Discussed In Recent January Rumors

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has dismissed the idea that Luis Suarez is playing out his final year at Anfield. The striker revealed that he wanted to leave the club in the summer and was the subject of two failed bids by Arsenal. The Gunners’ interest is thought to remain, while Real Madrid have also been strongly linked with a transfer, either in January or next summer.

For their part, Liverpool have said that they will open negotiations over a new contract in the summer, but Suarez has made no comments committing himself to the club. Still, after Suarez’s latest fine display in scoring a hat-trick against West Brom on Saturday, Rodgers rejected suggestions that the Uruguayan was in his last season with the Merseysiders.

“No, I wouldn't say that," he said, according to Sky Sports. "I think he, like ourselves, wants to be at the very highest level he can be. For me, this is the place for Luis. I still maintain that even if we were in mid-table this would be the place for him to be because this is a massive club -- a global institution.”

Signing a striker is likely to remain on the agenda of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. Behind Olivier Giroud, there is just the previously outcast Nicklas Bendtner and French youngster Yaya Sanogo as natural backups. The Daily Express claims that the Gunners are one of the clubs to be offered the services of Robert Lewandowski by Borussia Dortmund for a knockdown price of £7 million in the January transfer window.

Lewandowski was thought on his way to Bayern Munich in the summer, but Dortmund refused to sell him to their rivals even though he was entering the final year of his contract. Given that they also failed to sell him abroad as they resolved to hold onto him for the last year of his deal, even offering him a pay rise as a sweetener, it seems implausible that he will now be offered away for less money. The 25-year-old is also said to have been offered to Manchester United and Chelsea.

Meanwhile, a lot has been made in recent days over quotes from former Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas. It has often been suggested in the past year that the midfielder could return to the Emirates from Barcelona and his latest comments, in an interview with The Guardian, have been used in certain quarters as further support for that theory. However, while stating his affinity for the club, he was far from committal on whether he would ever return in a playing capacity.

“Arsenal is in my heart and always will be,” he said. “I don't know if I'll have the opportunity to go back and play there one day, or maybe after football. It's a club that is always going to be there and will always open its doors to me. The club's like a family so even if it wasn't as a coach, I'm sure they'd give me the chance to play a role.”

In the same interview, Fabregas joined in the praise for the impact his former teammate Mathieu Flamini has made since returning to Arsenal this summer. Playing an unsung role as a defensive midfielder, his importance has been seen when he has been missing almost as much as when he has been on the pitch. Given that Arsenal lack another player of that type, Wenger is believed to be targeting West Brom’s Youssouf Mulumbu. The Daily Mirror reports that Arsenal scouted the 26-year-old in his recent appearance against Stoke City. A £7 million bid in January is mooted.

Follow Jason Le Miere on Twitter

Arsenal Transfer News: Fabregas, Suarez, Lewandowski And Mulumbu Discussed In Recent January Rumors