Arsenal Transfer News: Blues' Interest in Higuain Makes Luis Suarez Top Target

It appears as though the Gonzalo Higuain-to-Arsenal rumors that made it appear Higuain was all but wearing an Emirates kit were a little off the mark. If any big-name transfer is going to be a Gunner next season, it will likely be Luis Suarez. 

According to John Drayton of the Daily Mail, the 25-year-old Real Madrid striker has claimed that Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho wants to bring him to Stamford Bridge. 

If what Higuain says is true, that certainly changes things for Arsenal. 

In a summer where the Arsenal faithful expected nothing less than at least one big splash on the transfer market, the club has made just one move of note—a free transfer to obtain 20-year-old Yaya Sanogo.

While that's a decent signing that will likely help the club in the future, it does little to show the fanbase that it's serious about contending for the EPL title next season. 

No, in order to do that, the club has to find a way to ink a major contributor to boost the lineup, preferably a dynamic scorer. 

As the summer has progressed two names have dominated the headlines—Higuain and Suarez. 

In the early going, it appeared that Higuain was the favorite. The rumors surrounding the negotiations made it appear as though the signing was a done deal and the Real Madrid star would soon be leading the Gunners to an EPL title. 

But official word has not been as optimistic. 

First there was the the report from Jack Lang of the Mirror, which revealed that the Gunners had yet to even submit a bid for Higuain. A step that should probably have taken place if Arsenal were really serious about bringing him into the fold. 

Now there's the latest news that Chelsea have entered the race for his services. Given Mourinho's prior experience working with Higuain at Real Madrid, that's not good news. It's unlikely that they would be able to convince him to choose Arsenal over working with his former boss unless they can make an offer that is substantially more than the Blues'. 

That leaves Suarez, the controversial yet uber-talented Liverpool striker, as the best possible acquisition for the team this summer. 

According to John Cross of the Mirror, Arsene Wenger has been given the green light to bid £40 million on the star, who was second in the Premier League in scoring last season with 23 goals. 

Clearly that's a huge sum of money for Wenger to throw around and a dubious figure when you factor in that the Gunners apparently didn't make an offer for Higuain. 

But Arsenal now has no choice but to go all-in on Suarez if they want to make the big move they need to make to compete for the title next season.