Arsenal Transfer Tracker: Week of July 8 News and Rumours

Any Internet-browsing Arsenal fan will be bombarded with transfer rumors during every online sojourn this summer. Most will be false, and many of those will neglect the team's actual needs.

So where do the Gunners actually have to improve this summer?

While Arsenal are not quite as bad as some of the more pessimistic pundits would have you believe, their fourth-place finish—and struggle to get there—indicates that there is ample room for additions to the squad.

Let's look at four of the biggest areas that Arsene Wenger needs to look at.

Florentino Perez: What Is an Arsenal?

Despite mountains of speculation in recent weeks suggesting that Gonzalo Higuain will transfer to Arsenal this summer, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez claims the Gunners have not even made contact yet.

It seems like posturing or a negotiating tactic because there is overwhelming evidence that at least something is on. In Perez's own words (via The Mirror):

"

We don't want Higuain to leave. What's more, no-one from Arsenal has come to us and made us any offers at all for him. There are no offers on the table.

"

Doubtful.

Arsenal Have £30 Million Bid for Luis Suarez Rejected

Normally, I would regard this sort of superficially fantastical story as silly season hokum, but when a respected writer at a revered news outlet like the BBC publishes the information, I'm somewhat more inclined to believe it.

Nevertheless, I do not have to believe that a club's interest is genuine.

That is my conclusion about Phil McNulty's report that Arsenal have had a bid of £30 million for Luis Suarez turned down by Liverpool.

It does not make sense for the club to essentially double their transfer record for such a volatile player who has publicly voiced his displeasure with life in England (via Sky Sports) and would be moving to the country's capital to play for another of its most prominent, and maligned, clubs.

Perhaps this is merely a tactic employed by Arsenal to bolster their hand in the Higuain negotiations.

A Large Piece of Deadwood Might Be Leaving

Arsenal have already begun to offload some of the stunting spare parts in their squad with the sale of Vito Mannone and the loans of Johan Djourou and Francis Coquelin.

According to the Daily Mail, Marouane Chamakh could be the next man to walk out the door with the full blessing of Arsenal and all its supporters.

Apparently, Spanish club Levante are willing to shell out £1 million to secure the Moroccan.

As with almost all of Arsenal's sales, persuading a player to accept lower wages at his new club will probably be the biggest challenge. If Chamakh agrees to a more modest contract and Levante are willing to pay any transfer fee, it will represent a considerable success for the Gunners.

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