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Arsenal Told To Pay £45m After Opening £32m Bid Rejected – Report

By on May 16, 2014

Reports today claim that Arsenal have seen an opening £32m bid for Angel Di Maria rejected with Real Madrid demanding nearer £45m for the attacker.

We were strongly linked with Di Maria last summer but Carlo Ancelotti decided to hang on to him and opted to sell us Mesut Ozil instead [thanks for that, Carlo].

The Argentinean has since enjoyed a mixed season at the Bernabeu. At times he’s looked unplayable and has chipped in with an impressive 11 goals and 21 assists in his 50 appearances so far.

However, he’s also been criticised by the local media and fans for being inconsistent and there has been talk he could be made available as part of a summer overhaul at Madrid, with President Florentino Perez ready to mix things up after seeing the club miss out on the title for the second consecutive season.

Sevilla attacker Ivan Rakitic is understood to be a key target for the Spaniard’s and Di Maria’s position would come under threat if the Croatian international was to move to the Bernabeu.

The Express newspaper claim that the uncertainty surrounding Di Maria’s future led to Arsenal offering to pay £32m for his services earlier this week, but it seems Real are ready to hold out for a better deal with the club demanding nearer £45m for the winger.

He’s certainly not worth that kind of money, but if we could get him for around £30m-£35m then it would be a great signing. We clearly need to add to our attacking options this summer as our lack of depth in the forward positions ended up costing us this season once the injuries pilled up.

If we’d have had a player of Di Maria’s quality available it would have made a huge difference. If we could sign someone like him, as well as another striker, a defensive midfielder and replacements for Sagna and Vermaelen if they leave, then we’ll be in great shape next year.

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