Gunners will offer Cazorla plus cash to bring Diego Costa to the Emirates Stadium.
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Arsenal are considering offering Santi Cazorla plus over £20m to sign Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa next summer, CaughtOffside has learnt.
The Gunners have made tentative enquiries about signing the Brazilian-born Spain international this month but Atletico are adamant Costa is not for sale mid-season.
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However, the Spanish club remain interested in a move for Cazorla and Gunners boss Arsene Wenger will consider offering the Spain playmaker in part-exchange for Costa.
Cazorla has been a shining light for Arsenal since arriving at the Emirates Stadium in summer 2012 and played in every league match for the Gunners last term, bagging 12 goals in a fabulous debut season.
But the diminutive pass-master has lost his position as creator-in-chief to record-signing Mesut Ozil this season and has managed just one goal and two assists in 14 league appearances this term.
The former Malaga player is 30 next year and Ozil’s arrival plus the emergence of Aaron Ramsey as a world-class performer has led to a shift in Wenger’s mentality, with the Frenchman no longer regarding Cazorla as indispensable.
Wenger views the signing of a top striker as the priority for Arsenal but the 64-year-old believes there is limited value in the January transfer market, while Wenger is reluctant to pay Costa’s staggering £32m release clause.
The Premier League’s longest serving manager is therefore prepared to wait for the summer to land Costa, who has scored a staggering 23 goals in 20 appearances this term, and could sacrifice Cazorla to get his man.
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