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Revealed! Cech, Martinez, Bender + Richard’s On Wenger’s Wish-List

By on May 19, 2014

Now that the season is over, the transfer rumours continue to mount and the Daily Mail have compiled an extensive list of targets under consideration by Arsene Wenger.

Reports have claimed the boss will be handed £100m to spend this summer and t’s pretty-much common knowledge that his priorities are a defensive midfielder and a striker, while he’ll also be in the market for a new goalkeeper and right-back should, as expected, Lukasz Fabianski and Bacary Sagna leave the club when their contracts expire next month.

According to the Daily Mail, the two keepers on Arsene’s radar are Victor Valdes and Petr Cech. Valdes is available on a free transfer after seeing his contract at Barcelona expire but I think this one is a no-goer for two reasons. Firstly, he’s currently injured and will be out for the foreseeable future and secondly he’s expected to join Monaco.

Cech is an interesting one as he could find himself down the pecking order if Jose Mourinho give impressive youngster Thibaut Courtois the No.1 jersey at Chelsea. However, I don’t see Arsene bringing in a new first choice to replace Szczesny this summer and Cech isn’t going to play second fiddle, so I don’t see this one going anywhere either. We’d be better off going for someone like John Ruddy or Robert Green.

The right-backs contain no surprises with Toulouse’s Serge Aurier and Southampton’s Callum Chambers widely believed to be top of Arsene’s list of potential Sagna replacements, but the Mail also claim that Manchester City’s Micah Richard’s is under consideration. He’d be a great replacement for Sagna as he can cover at right-back and centre-back, and he’s also a boyhood Gooner. Whether City would sell to us in another question though.

The newspaper says that Ilkay Gundogan is Wenger ‘dream’ midfield signing but it’s never going to happen. The German just signed a new five-year at Dortmund. Lars Bender and Morgan Schneiderlin are the other two midfielders identified as long-term successors to Arteta, and I’d be happy with either.

On the striker front, familiar names like Karim Benzema, Mario Mandzukic and Loic Remy make the list along with Porto’s Jackson Martinez. Benzema has been strongly linked in recent years and the paper believes we’ll have another go at trying to land him this summer. Madrid might sell this time around but only if they can find a suitable replacement, which wont be easy.

Remy is likely to be the ‘back up’ option in case we can’t land the likes of Benzema or Martinez. I think he’d be a good buy at £8m, but a world class addition like Benzema would give the club a huge lift. I’m not really too excited by the prospect of Mandzukic if I’m honest, but at least he’s got pedigree at the top level.

I like the look of this supposed ‘wish-list’, although I think we need to revisit our goalkeeping targets. If Fabs and Bac do leave, then if we could bring in Ruddy, Richards, Schneiderlin and Benzema/Remy and perhaps a pacey winger as well we’d have had a very good summer.

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