Emirates Stadium side step-up pursuit of much needed January additions.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will be handed a big transfer fund boost this month as the club’s owners seek to back the manager in the January transfer window according to the Daily Star.
Read more Arsenal transfer news.
With Theo Walcott sidelined for six months and Olivier Giroud recovering from illness having been overworked for much of the current campaign there is certainly scope for much needed attacking additions this month and it’s certainly an area that Wenger will be looking to strengthen and as such has drawn up a four man wish-list.
Diego Costa is perhaps the most hopeful target of those earmarked by Arsene Wenger and certainly the Brazilian born striker’s £32m release clause fee is one that the North London club would do well to trigger.
Costa has netted an astonishing 19 goals in 18 La Liga fixtures this season but may feel he has gone as far as he can with over achieving Atletico Madrid, who are mounting a genuine domestic title push.
One imagines Arsenal could offer the forward a pay-rise and Atletico Madrid are well known for selling their prized asset, indeed Costa has effectively filled Radamel Falcao’s boots as Diego Simeone’s main striking weapon, taking over from the Colombian who left for AS Monaco last summer.
Dimitar Berbatov is now a shock Arsenal target and it a move for the Bulgarian would be a surprise for a number of reasons.
Firstly as a former White Hart Lane star it is uncertain as to how the Emirates Stadium faithful would take to his arrival at the club and secondly at the age of 32 wouldn’t exactly adhere to Wenger’s youthful transfer policy.
The Craven Cottage star is out of contract in the summer and therefore a cheap deal may tempt Fulham into selling though Berbatov has started to show signs of improvement after a poor start to the season, scoring in each of his last three Premier League starts.
Berbatov would offer Wenger an experienced proven Premier League forward to help beef up his striking complement though one would imagine the cultured forward would only be offered a one year deal, as is club policy for players over the age of 30.
The Fulham forward netted 46 goals in 91 starts for Tottenham and 57 goals from 108 starts for Man United prior to his move to Fulham in August 2012.
Lazio’s Miroslav Klose is another Arsene Wenger target but clearly not a long term solution to the club’s striking problems.
Klose has been a great success since moving from Bayern Munich to the Stadio Olimpico, scoring 35 goals in 81 appearances.
The 35 year old would clearly not adhere to Arsene Wenger’s youthful transfer policy but desperate situations call for desperate measures and the Arsenal manager may feel that as a short term option, until his attack are all fully fit, Klose fits the bill.
Perhaps the most likely of the four targets named by this source is Real Madrid youngster Alvaro Morata.
Morata has started just one La Liga fixtures this season, among a number of sub cameos, but has managed to net twice and is considered one of the hottest prospects in Spanish football and could well benefit from a loan spell away from Real Madrid.
The lethal finisher has scored 12 goals in 11 appearances for the Spanish Under 21 side and is apparently valued at around £15m but isn’t a player Real Madrid would be looking to leaving on a permanent basis.
Currently Karim Benzema is seen by Carlo Ancelotti as the man to lead the club’s attack, with wide-men Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale either side of him, and Jese Rodriguez has perhaps edged ahead of Morata in the Italian manager’s pecking order.
Find out the top 10 biggest match-fixing scandals in sport history.
Check out the top 10 managers in world football
Read great Arsenal stories in Indonesian Bahasa! Arsenal berita.