Croatian’s contract in Bavaria runs until June 2016.
Arsenal have now made highly rated Bayern Munich front man Mario Mandzukic their number one priority for when the summer transfer window opens again, according to reports in the Daily Mail.
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The north London initially wanted to sign prolific Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa, however, manager Arsene Wenger is understood to have now given up his pursuit of the Spain international after acknowledging that the player will be joining arch-rivals Chelsea instead next season.
As a result, Wenger has sent his scouts over to Germany in recent weeks in order to run their eyes over both Schalke 04’s Julian Draxler and Nuremberg’s young forward Josip Drmic, who is currently the second top scorer in the Bundesliga.
However, it is Bayern’s Croatia international who Wenger is said to be most keen on luring to the Emirates this summer and the Gunners boss is confident of being able to persuade the 27-year-old to leave the Allianz Arena.
And that is because Mandzukic faces the prospect of losing his place up front to Borussia Dortmund’s Polish attacker Robert Lewandowski next season.