Arsenal are prepared to break their traditional approach to transfers by bidding for a 30-year-old striker – Karim Benzema. A confounded report for any Arsenal fan when the club already has Alexandre Lacazette, Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck but the Gunners might already have sent over a bid of £35m, according to the Mirror and Madrid have reverted back with an asking price of £52.3m.
Karim Benzema is currently undergoing one of his worst seasons in a Galactico shirt – not that he has had many. But a 6-goal tally in 22 games so far is only a shadow of what he has shown us in the past. The Frenchman arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer of 2009 and has gone on to make a staggering 387 appearances for the club. Often playing second fiddle to Cristiano Ronaldo in the final third, Benzema has not let it slow down his scoring form.
Plenty of strikers have found themselves put on a Madrid jersey but none have been able to match up to the talents of the Frenchman. Gonzalo Higuain had to find himself an escape to Napoli and while Alvaro Morata left for Chelsea.
But even after winning 2 La Liga titles and 3 UEFA Champion League trophies, it looks like the former Olympique Lyonnais striker’s stint with the Spanish giants might just be coming to an end.
Arsenal had been linked with the striker previously but the rumours never materialised with the Frenchman opting to stay with Madrid. However, in the current climate where Florentino Perez is ready to offload multiple players, a move to the Emirates might not be the worst move to make.
Arsenal are desperate for an Alexis Sanchez replacement and are already looking into a deal for out of favour striker, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. But even after agreeing to personal terms with the player, the transfer has stalled over the transfer fee and every other target might already have fused out.
With just a few more days left in the January window, the Gunners are vulnerable of having to make do with just Alex Iwobi and Welbeck on the right wing, now that Theo Walcott has also found a new home at Everton.
However, even if the Benzema deal does pass the thread lock, where will he fit in? In his time with Madrid, he often plays a free-flowing role with Ronaldo who likes to drift inside to get into better scoring positions. Maybe the Frenchman will follow a similar role under Arsene Wenger alongside Lacazette if the deal goes through and eye redemption to give his career a much-needed lift.
