ARSENE WENGER 'MAY SPLASH £60M'
Arsene Wenger is anxious not to get left behind by his rivals
ARSENE WENGER wants to make a dramatic move to strike straight back at Manchester United and Liverpool after lodging his interest in more than £60million-worth of talent.
Having been beaten to the £16million signing of Blackburn’s Phil Jones by United and seen Jordan Henderson make a big-money move to Liverpool, Wenger is determined to make his mark in the transfer market.
The Daily Express understands enquiries have been made for Bolton and Blackburn defenders Gary Cahill and Chris Samba, and Lille duo Gervinho and Eden Hazard. Wenger is also bidding to beat United to Southampton kids Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Luke Shaw.
It is not thought Wenger expects to sign all of his targets, but the Arsenal boss is anxious not to get left behind by his rivals. England defender Cahill has a £17m release clause in his Bolton contract and the fee has not put Arsenal off his trail, but they know they could face competition for him from Manchester City.
Similarly, City are also thought to be looking at Gervinho, while a host of Europe’s biggest clubs have been alerted to the talents of Hazard.
Arsenal would have a relatively free run at Samba, but it remains to be seen whether, having already lost Jones, Blackburn will be prepared to sell their best remaining player.
“Arsene currently has his fingers in an awful lot of pies and it is now just a case of waiting to see what will come off,” said a Gunners source. “It is not money or transfer fees that are going to stop anything, it depends on the players and what other choices they might have.”
Although the potential signing of a new defender could put pressure on his own position, Johan Djourou would welcome a spending spree and also believes forward Gervinho would prove a big hit.
“I guess Arsenal will be busy this summer,” said Djourou, who has visited his Kemi Malaika foundation in Senegal, where he has funded the building of a school.
“It’s nice to hear the club want to spend money and that can only be a good thing because, to be a strong club, you need competition.
“Everybody says we need defenders and we probably do. But that does not worry me, I will just fight for my place and fight to be a better player.”
On Gervinho, Djourou added: “I’ve known about him for a while and have watched him play in the French League. He is a great player who has impressed me. He has got lots of talent and is quick.
“He can play as a striker or on the wing and he certainly has all the ingredients to play for Arsenal.”
Like United and Liverpool, Wenger is keen to do some major business early in the transfer window – especially as doubts over the futures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri could rumble through the summer.
The Daily Express yesterday revealed that Fabregas fears Arsenal’s £50m valuation of him could prove too costly for Barcelona and the Spanish club have now confirmed their summer transfer budget falls under that figure.
Barca’s vice-president for economic affairs, Javier Faus, revealed the European champions have set aside £40m for new signings and will reinvest any money made on player sales.
He said: “Barcelona have £40m for transfers, plus the money that can be obtained from sales of players. When we speak about sales, we will only consider those that are beneficial to the club.”