Arsenal Open Talks Over £26m Di Maria Deal But Suarez Holds Key To Striker Search

With the summer transfer window in full swing, there is plenty of gossip doing the rounds in the newspapers so we’ll keep you up-to-date with the latest transfer rumours. Today, Arsenal open talks for Di Maria.

Arsenal have opened talks with Real Madrid over the £26m signing of Angel Di Maria but Luis Suarez holds the key to their chances of landing Karim Benzema, according to reports today.

It’s been a hugely frustrating summer for Arsenal having missed out on several top targets so far, despite boss Arsene Wenger understood to have a sizeable transfer kitty at his disposal. The Frenchman has vowed to be active in the market over the remaining 8 days and fans may not have to wait much longer to see the first big-name signing arrive in north London if reports today are accurate.

Both Marca and Goal claim that the Gunners have opened talks with Madrid over the signing of Di Maria and have been given encouragement that a deal can be struck as they are prepared to off-load the Argentinean attacker to make room for Gareth Bale.

The 25-year-old’s place in Carlo Ancelotti’s starting eleven will come under serious threat when the Welshman arrives, so a move to the Emirates could now be on the cards.

However, the report suggests that the Spanish giants have told Arsenal that any move for Benzema is reliant on them securing a replacement first, with Liverpool’s Luis Suarez understood to be on their radar.

Reds boss Brendan Rodgers admitted last week that’s he’s anticipating late interest from Madrid but feels it’s too late in the window to do a deal as he doesn’t have enough time to find a replacement. When asked about late interest from Madrid in Suarez, Rodgers told the Guardian on Friday:

“I’m sure there will be plenty of activity in these last number of days. It is what it is, and we will deal with it like we have during the summer.

“It’s very difficult at this time [for a Suárez bid to succeed]. We are trying to get one or two more quality players in through the door. If we lose Luis at this stage it would be difficult to replace him. There might have been a point a few months ago where there was time to do it but with 11 days to go it would be difficult to replace him.”

Suarez remains unsettled at Anfield and the club may find it more appealing to sell him abroad rather than to a domestic rival like Arsenal, but as Rodgers says they too would have to find a replacement for any deal to take place, which won’t be easy.

So it looks as though Arsenal could be closing in on the signing of Di Maria but may have to rely on Liverpool finding a replacement for Suarez for them to have any chance of landing Benzema.

It’s shaping up to be an interesting final week of the transfer window, and Arsenal are likely to be one of the more active clubs. Can they pull off a sensation double swoop on Madrid? We’ll have to wait and see….