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Arsenal Dealt Blow As £40m Target Agrees New €7m Contract – Report

By on June 20, 2014

Arsenal look set to once again miss out on the signing of Karim Benzema with reports from Spain claiming the striker is on the verge of signing a new deal at Real Madrid.

Benzema was strongly linked with a move to Arsenal last summer and newspapers have suggested Arsene Wenger was going to renew his interest in the French hitman this summer with a potential £40m bid.

The  26-year-old has just one year remaining on his current deal at the Bernabeu and there have been suggestions that Madrid were ready to cash-in and use the money to help fund moves for either Serge Aguero or Luis Suarez.

Benzema was also understood to be open to a move away after being on the receiving end of some rough treatment from his own supporters last season, which saw him jeered during several matches including the Champions League final.

However, newspaper El Confidencial are reporting today that Madrid have performed a dramatic u-turn and have decided to keep hold of the Frenchman and offer him a new contract worth €7m per season.

Carlo Ancelotti has apparently played a key role in persuading the clubs bosses to retain Benzema but the decisive factor seems to be that they aren’t confident of being able to sign Aguero or Suarez, so are basically stuck with keeping Benzema.

El Confidencial claim that although Benzema has concerns over his relationship with the fans, he has been persuaded to stay at the club and has now agreed a new deal that will tie him to Madrid until 2018.

If true, this is sad news as Benzema was the one ‘marquee’ striker I hoped we could sign this summer. The ideal scenario would have been Madrid buying either Aguero or Suarez – which weakens our rivals – and we get Benzema. But unfortunately it doesn’t look like it will work out that way.

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