Arsenal are said to be closing in on a deal to sign Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain and Arsene Wenger will look to secure another addition from the Bernabeu club this summer as he prepares to bid for centre-back Raul Albiol.
The North London side have made a £25.5m bid for 26 year old Argentine marksman Higuain and lead the chase as their main contenders Juventus aren’t willing to offer anywhere near as much as the Gunners and the fee they are willing to pay is said to be on the Turin side would like to pay in installments whilst Arsenal are happy to fork out the entire lump sum in one payment.
Wenger has already met Higuain’s father, who also acts as the former River Plate forward’s agent, in talks in Paris and a deal appears to be in sight.
The Emirates Stadium boss is keen to strengthen his attack and having seemingly given up on long term target Stevan Jovetic, with Fiorentina fighting hard to keep the Montenegro international, is set to bring in the experienced Real Madrid star who though something of a bit part player in recent seasons has still racked up 122 goals for the La Liga giants.
Wenger is reportedly also in talks with Real Madrid over Arsenal’s interest in Spanish international defender Raul Albiol, and is willing to offer up to £10m for the centre-back, who has become something of a back-up option in the three seasons Jose Mourinho was in charge of the club.
The 27 year old battler has made just 32 starts in the course of the past three La Liga campaigns, this is in marked contrast to his first season at the Bernabeu where he was a regular under Manuel Pellegrini.
Albiol options at Real Madrid are already fairly limited and the emergence of excellent French youngster Raphael Varane has pushed the Spaniard further down the pecking order and the chance of a fresh challenge at Arsenal apparently interests the former Valencia man.
Arsene Wenger is keen to strengthen his defensive options with speculation rife that Thomas Vermaelen may leave the club having been frozen out of Arsenal’s starting eleven in the final two months of 2012/13, talk of Barcelona and Bayern Munich’s interest in Laurent Koscielny could also be a motivating factor behind advances for a defensive signing.
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