Gunners hope to finalise three big-money deals by the Sept 2 cut-off date.
Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger is set to embark on a huge £68 million summer spending spree as a result of the club’s shock opening-day 3-1 loss to Aston Villa at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon.
The north London club opened up their Premier League campaign with a home defeat for the first time since the Gunners lost to Norwich City at Highbury under the management of George Graham exactly 20 years ago.
And following the reaction of the home faithful, who made their feelings clear to Arsenal’s under-pressure boss on the full-time whistle on Saturday, the club’s chief executive Ivan Gazidis and American owner ‘silent’ Stan Kroenke have now decided to sanction a massive outlay on new transfers before the summer window slams shut for business for the year on Sept 2.
The names on Wenger’s wish list as the Frenchman attempts to calm nerves in the capital are understood to be those of Liverpool front man Luis Suarez, Manchester City defender Micah Richards and Queens Park Rangers goalkeeper Julio Ceasr.
The Gunners’ long-running attempts to land Liverpool’s mercurial Uruguay international have been going on for some time now, with many believing the club had given up all hope of being able to persuade the Merseyside giants to part company with their star man.
In fact, the much-publicised deal had appeared to be dead in the water following recent comments by Liverpool’s principal owner John W Henry, who claimed that the Reds would not allow Suarez to move to the Emirates this summer under any circumstances.
However, that hard-line stance from the American is thought to only have been an attempt to secure the best possible deal financially for his club from any potential sale of the 26-year-old, and now with Arsenal understood to be readying a third and final club-record offer of £50m for Suarez, it is said that figure will finally be enough to persuade Liverpool to allow the forward to move to the Emirates.
Meanwhile, Wenger is also now set to step up his attempts to sign highly rated City utility defender Richards, with the club in the midst of a major injury crisis at the back that was only compounded by events in the capital against Villa on Saturday.
The Gunners had already gone into their Premier League opener without the likes of key skipper and centre-back Thomas Vermaelen and Spanish left-back Nacho Monreal, while they then lost central defender Laurent Koscielny after the France international was sent off following two bookable offences, and left-back Kieran Gibbs to yet another injury.
All of which has meant the club can now barely put put out a back four ahead of their vital two-legged Uefa Champions League playoff against Turkish giants Fenerbahce later this month, a tie Arsenal just cannot afford to lose, hence their new interest in Richards.
The 25-year-old is still to discover exactly what role he will be given at Eastlands this season under recently appointed City coach Manuel Pellegrini, with the big-spending Premier League club set to get their new top-flight campaign under way at home to Newcastle United on Monday night.
However, the some-time England international is not expected to be one of the Chilean’s first-choice defenders in the north west going forward judging by his team selections so far in preseason, with Pellegrini favouring experienced Argentinian Pablo Zabaleta in the right-back role, while skipper Vincent Kompany and either Joleon Lescott or Matija Nastasic will fill the centre-back berths for the club.
All of which has encouraged Wenger to make a move for Richards, who only has two years left on his current deal at City and as yet has still to be approached by the club about opening talks on a new contract.
Wenger also knows that Richards, who can operate at either right back or in the centre of defence, is above all desperate to get regular first-team football in the upcoming campaign as he attempts to force his way back into the England setup ahead of next summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil.
And with Arsenal set to offer the player a bumper five-year deal at the Emirates worth a whopping £100,000 per week to match his present salary at Eastlands, as well as a guaranteed starting berth in his more favoured position of centre back alongside Koscielny in the capital going forward, it is understood that a £15m deal for Richards could be tied up by as early as the end of next week.
But Wenger’s defensive headaches do not stop with finding a new commanding centre back, as Saturday’s horror show at the back against Villa also served to further expose the continuing frailties surrounding current No 1 Wojciech Szczesny, with the young Poland international’s display between the sticks having finally now convinced the Arsenal manager of the urgent need to bring in a new experienced shot stopper before the cut-off date of Sept 2.
Wenger has, of course, been scoring the European transfer market looking for such a goalkeeper since the end of last season, when Szczesny had been dropped by his boss due to what was termed “mental fatigue”.
However, despite attempts to sign the likes of Liverpool keeper Jose Manuel Reina, coveted Sporting Lisbon shot-stopper Rui Patricio and promising Hamburg No 1 Rene Adler, so far the Gunners have been unable to seal a deal for any of those three goalkeepers, meaning Wenger has now decided to switch his focus back to QPR’s Cesar.
The highly experienced Brazil international was actually one of the names that Wenger had considered earlier on this summer, only for the 33-year-old to appear destined to leave Loftus Road to move to Serie A high-flyers Napoli, only for that deal to fall through at the very last minute when the Italians’ new manager Rafa Benitez opted to sign Reina instead.
And now with Cesar, caped 74 times by the five-time world champions in a glittering 10-year international career to date, having been made available to buy by the cash-strapped west Londoners for as little as £3m, as they seek to offload as many high earners from their wage bill as possible following their relegation to the Championship, the Gunners are set to finally bring an end to their long-running search for a new No 1.