Arsene Wenger could be about to break Arsenal’s club-transfer record to land a new centre forward, according to a club board member.
Arsenal director Lord Harris claims that this could happen sooner rather than later after admitting their No.1 target is keen to join Wenger in north London.
“We get a list of the players that Wenger wants,” he told the Daily Mail. “On the list is a centre forward, but I’m not going to tell you who he is.
“You’ve got to get the other team to want to sell him, but I think he wants to come. It basically comes down to whether the other team can find a superstar to replace him, because they don’t have to sell.”
Wenger has been criticised for failing to conclude good business in the transfer window in the past, but that has changed in the last two years following the arrivals of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, respectively.
This summer could see Arsenal make another marquee signing and even eclipse the £42.5m they shelled out for Ozil two years ago, according to Harris.
“Money was tight when we moved to the Emirates but it’s a lot freer now. In the accounts, there’s over £200m in the bank. You could say to Arsene we’ve got no money and he wouldn’t worry, or you could give him £100m and he might not spend it,” he added.
“We would back him to break the club’s transfer record. If he wanted the man, he could have him. Apart from Messi and Ronaldo, he could have any player.”
The north London outfit have been heavily linked with Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema this summer, with Arsene Wenger insisting the club would only be looking to bring in world-class talent.
Both strikers have been some of the most deadly in their respective leagues, particularly Benzema, whose 87 goals in La Liga over the last six years has only been bettered by Messi and Ronaldo.
For more stats on Karim Benzema, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
