arsenal news

Karim Benzema remains the striker Arsene Wenger would most like to sign for Arsenal but the club has no expectation of being able to bring him to The Emirates this summer as Real Madrid will not offer any encouragement for a bid. Wenger tried to sign Benzema in 2013, when the striker was their primary target before they were offered Mesut Ozil but failed then.  And it is understood that Benzema, 27, is one of President Florentino Perez’s favourite players and therefore extremely unlikely to be sold. Real Madrid manager Rafa Benitez would only countenance his sale if an equivalent standard striker, such as Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero, could be signed and that isn’t on Real’s agenda at present. Arsenal have not ruled out the possibility of bringing in a striker to supplement their squad in the five weeks of the transfer window but given that Benzema is not available their assessment is that there are very few strikers of that quality around. Wenger has...

Former England goalkeeper David James claims Arsenal should have signed Asmir Begovic ahead of £10million man Petr Cech. Cech, 33, has penned a four-year deal with the north London giants, with many in the game believing the transfer has turned Arsene Wenger's men into genuine title challengers. However, James feels the Gunners made the wrong move by signing Cech, and instead should have gone for Begovic, who has now replaced the Czech goalkeeper as Chelsea's No 2.           He told the Alan Brazil Breakfast show :  'Petr Cech is a very good goalkeeper but he's not at his best. At 33 years of age, there's nothing to say he can't get back to his best form though. 'If he does then Arsenal still have one hell of a goalkeeper, but Chelsea have still got a very large sum of money for a 33-year-old with one year left on his deal. 'They have gone out and bought (Asmir) Begovic, who was sought after by many big clubs...