Arsenal Transfer News: Latest Gossip Surrounding Gunners' Top Deadline-Targets

With the summer transfer window closing Monday, the prospects of Arsenal walking away with anything to keep their fans happy don’t look good. 

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has seen several of his offers spurned and now must complete a move right away to avoid coming up empty. 

As the deadline looms, let’s look at where Arsenal stands with their most important targets. 

Julian Draxler

This 19-year-old German midfielder will come at a hefty price should the Gunners pull the trigger on a deal with his club, Schalke.

According to John Cross of the Daily Mirror, Wenger is willing to pay an impressive £40 million for the prodigy, but the German club is demanding £60 million. That figure, Cross reports, has made Wenger understandably hesitant to make the deal.

But Arsenal may need to pay the price for Draxler. The club has yet to make the big splash it desired before August began. The risk of letting the window close without a deal is just too great.

Draxler is a talented attacking midfielder who would mean a lot to Arsenal now and for seasons to come. Because of the German’s bright future, Wenger has every justification to pull off an expensive transaction to acquire the youngster.

Under mounting pressure, Wenger may be forced into this move. But still, Draxler would be a big enough acquisition to keep fans at least somewhat happy.

Joshua Guilavogui and Yohan Cabaye

These two targets are tied together because Guilavogui has become Arsenal’s backup plan if they fail to pry Cabaye away from Newcastle.

After Newcastle rejected Arsenal’s £11 million offer for Cabaye, Wenger turned his sights on Guilavogui of French club St. Etienne, Ben Jefferson of the Express reports.

Arsenal appeared ready to boost its bid for Cabaye to £17 million, but Guilavogui may come for half that price, according to the Express story. But Newcastle is eyeing Guilavogui as well, as a replacement in case Cabaye goes. 

Arsenal doesn't plan on breaking the bank for Cabaye, so it appears likely that Wenger will go after the cheaper player in Guilavogui, which could chagrin fans who crave a big, expensive move to bolster the roster.

However, with Cabaye seemingly out of the picture for Arsenal, the Gunners’ reported £8.5 million bid for Guilavogui could also fall short, given the possible competition from Newcastle.

Real Madrid Trio

With a transfer budget reported at £70 million, Arsenal could very well blow the entire stack on the Real Madrid trio of Karim Benzema, Mesut Ozil and Angel Di Maria, reports Sami Mokbel of the Daily Mail.

According to the Daily Mail story, the three players would prefer to stay with their current squad, but Real is taking offers as a possible way to offset the staggering sum spent on the Gareth Bale signing. 

The Guardian’s Sid Lowe reported Saturday that the price for Bale quoted by Real insiders is about £78 million, just shy of the world record £80 million the club paid for Cristiano Ronaldo four years earlier. But sources at Bale’s soon-to-be former club Tottenham say the true price is closer to £86 million.

But with Tottenham moving as slowly as possible to complete the Bale transfer, Madrid remains hesitant to make a deal with Arsenal for the three players. The Spanish club doesn't want to part ways with the trio before Bale is securely in the fold.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, the delay by Spurs is a deliberate tactic to prevent arch-rivals Arsenal from adding the Real trio.

Bringing in Benzema, Ozil and Di Maria would improve the Gunners. But time is running out and waiting to land these players could result in Wenger coming away empty-handed.

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