Arsene Wenger is anxious not to get left behind by
his rivals
ARSENE WENGER wants to make a dramatic move to
strike straight back at Manchester United and Liverpool after
lodging his interest in more than £60million-worth of
talent.
Having been beaten to the £16million signing of
Blackburn’s Phil Jones by United and seen Jordan Henderson make a
big-money move to Liverpool, Wenger is determined to make his mark
in the transfer market.
The Daily Express understands enquiries have been made
for Bolton and Blackburn defenders Gary Cahill and Chris Samba, and
Lille duo Gervinho and Eden Hazard. Wenger is also bidding to beat
United to Southampton kids Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Luke
Shaw.
It is not thought Wenger expects to sign all of his
targets, but the Arsenal boss is anxious not to get left behind by
his rivals. England defender Cahill has a £17m release clause in
his Bolton contract and the fee has not put Arsenal off his trail,
but they know they could face competition for him from Manchester
City.
Similarly, City are also thought to be looking at
Gervinho, while a host of Europe’s biggest clubs have been alerted
to the talents of Hazard.
Arsenal would have a relatively free run at Samba, but
it remains to be seen whether, having already lost Jones, Blackburn
will be prepared to sell their best remaining player.
“Arsene currently has his fingers in an awful lot of
pies and it is now just a case of waiting to see what will come
off,” said a Gunners source. “It is not money or transfer fees that
are going to stop anything, it depends on the players and what
other choices they might have.”
Although the potential signing of a new defender could
put pressure on his own position, Johan Djourou would welcome a
spending spree and also believes forward Gervinho would prove a big
hit.
“I guess Arsenal will be busy this summer,” said
Djourou, who has visited his Kemi Malaika foundation in Senegal,
where he has funded the building of a school.
“It’s nice to hear the club want to spend money and
that can only be a good thing because, to be a strong club, you
need competition.
“Everybody says we need defenders and we probably do.
But that does not worry me, I will just fight for my place and
fight to be a better player.”
On Gervinho, Djourou added: “I’ve known about him for a
while and have watched him play in the French League. He is a great
player who has impressed me. He has got lots of talent and is
quick.
“He can play as a striker or on the wing and he
certainly has all the ingredients to play for Arsenal.”
Like United and Liverpool, Wenger is keen to do some
major business early in the transfer window – especially as doubts
over the futures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri could rumble
through the summer.
The Daily Express yesterday revealed that Fabregas
fears Arsenal’s £50m valuation of him could prove too costly for
Barcelona and the Spanish club have now confirmed their summer
transfer budget falls under that figure.
Barca’s vice-president for economic affairs, Javier
Faus, revealed the European champions have set aside £40m for new
signings and will reinvest any money made on player sales.
He said: “Barcelona have £40m for transfers, plus the
money that can be obtained from sales of players. When we speak
about sales, we will only consider those that are beneficial to the
club.”