Arsenal Transfer News: Iker Casillas Phone Call and Sami Khedira Bid Reported

Iker Casillas could make a surprise move to Arsenal from Real Madrid after Gunners boss Arsene Wenger phoned the Spaniard to persuade him to do just that.

El Mundo Deportivo reported the news and suggested that a move is certainly not out of the question since Casillas is no longer first-choice in Madrid, via 101 Great Goals:

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Mundo Deportivo, the Spanish paper, paints a vivid picture on Friday in which they say Arsene Wenger has picked up the phone and called Iker Casillas to convince him to leave Real Madrid for Arsenal.

MD further boost Gunners fans hopes that Casillas may actually jump ship to the Emirates, noting that after struggling to get into the Real team last season due to Diego Lopez, together with Casillas’ "dismal performance" at the World Cup in Brazil, now may be the right time for Iker to leave Madrid.

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Casillas made just two starts in La Liga last season, but he played every game of Real's successful Champions League campaign.

Subsequently he performed terribly as reigning champions Spain were knocked out of the 2014 World Cup at the group stages—losing 5-2 to the Dutch and 2-0 to Chile—in ignominious fashion, per sportswriter Serge Fagelman:

Former Real star Roberto Carlos singled out Casillas as being responsible for Spain's failure, but he feels it could be a spur for improvement, per Sport via Goal.com:

"Iker has to take responsibility. As a friend, I'm sorry for him and for the team, but you have to always improve as we do not live in footballing past, but in the present."

Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

While Arsenal's No. 1 goalkeeper is currently Wojciech Szczesny, back-up shot-stopper Lukasz Fabianski recently made a switch to Swansea leaving Arsenal short at the back.

Casillas would provide huge experience at the very highest level and, at 33, he still has plenty of time left in his career considering goalkeepers are usually capable of playing on longer than outfield players.

While his World Cup performance was certainly not strong, he is still a confident and gifted keeper as he proved in Real's European triumph last season.

Claudio Villa/Getty Images

Wenger is also reportedly looking to bring in another Real star in the shape of German midfielder Sami Khedira, for whom a bid has been tabled by Arsenal, per El Mundo Deportivo via the Metro:

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Arsenal have made a £23.8million (€30million) offer for Real Madrid star Sami Khedira and are confident it will be enough to sign him, according to reports in Spain.

The El Mundo Deportivo newspaper says the Gunners submitted the offer on Wednesday night amid suggestions that he has told friends he wants out of Madrid this summer.

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The 27-year-old would be a key signing for Arsenal as they are in need of a world-class defensive midfielder to compete with Mathieu Flamini, shore up the Gunners' back line and act as a ball-winner to start counter-attacks.

Flamini was often impressive last season but, at 30 years old, is three years Khedira's senior and offers little in attack in contrast to the Real player.

Khedira should be Wenger's prime target in the transfer market along with a top striker as these two additions could make a huge difference to Arsenal's prospects next season.