Arsenal Transfer News: Iker Casillas Gunners Revelation, Anderson Talisca Latest

Real Madrid’s legendary goalkeeper Iker Casillas has admitted he considered leaving the club this summer, but there was never any official offer from Arsenal for his signature.

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The 33-year-old stopper captained Los Blancos to their much sought-after 10th European Cup win last season, but Casillas found himself on the bench for the majority of Real’s domestic clashes, with Carlo Ancelotti using Diego Lopez instead.

Lopez was sold to Milan during the summer, and Casillas now finds himself as the undisputed first choice again. Although in an interview with Canal+ (h/t Marca), the Spanish World Cup winner suggests things could well have been different:

"

I thought about going. If you're a bother and you don't want to have any run-ins with anyone... What you want is for Real Madrid to always win. But in the end, at 33 years of age, you think, why should I? I want to fight, to make a go of it, to be reborn form the ashes.

There was a lot of talk about an offer from Arsenal, but there was nothing concrete. I want to stay at Real Madrid, keep fighting here and finish my career here.

"

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Arsenal moved for David Ospina instead, and he’s a goalkeeper that looks likely to be back-up to Wojciech Szczesny throughout the 2014-15 campaign. But if the Gunners had moved with a tangible offer, you have to wonder as to whether Casillas—in the aforementioned mindset—might have considered swapping the Spanish capital for the English one.

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Szczesny is a goalkeeper with indisputable potential, but Casillas would have been a significant upgrade on the young Pole. And if Arsenal are serious about challenging for the major honours this season, his winning mentality and big-game temperament could have potentially been vital to their cause.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be, and with Casillas insisting he wants to remain at the Santiago Bernabeu for the remainder of his career, Arsenal will likely be left to explore other options if Arsene Wenger remains keen on bolstering his goalkeeping department.

In better news for Arsenal supporters, the Gunners have been linked with one of the hottest new young talents on the continent: Benfica’s Anderson Talisca.

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Having made the switch from Bahia to Lisbon this summer for a meagre £3 million, the 20-year-old has taken the Portuguese top flight by storm, scoring six goals in seven games already for the Aguias, per WhoScored.com.

Having impressed plenty with his dazzling displays, it is no surprise that both Arsenal and Liverpool have sent scouts to watch the young Brazilian, and according to John Cross of the Daily Mirror, the player has an £18 million release clause in his contract.

With some of Europe's biggest names sniffing around, Brazilian football writer Zizouology thinks Talisca will bring in a lot of money for Benfica one day:

Chelsea have also been linked with a move for the prodigious youngster, and Jose Mourinho claimed last month that if Talisca could have attained an English work permit, he would have already been plying his trade in the Premier League this season, per TVI24 (h/t Sean Gallagher of the Mail Online):

"

I think Benfica hired well. They say Talisca is unknown, but he is only so unknown because he's only not playing in England because he doesn't have a work permit. If he had one, he would be here!

There were many English teams, great teams and important, that wanted him. Moreover, there were those who wanted to sign him, even though he could not play for now.

"

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Talisca initially went three games without scoring for the current league leaders in Portugal, but a stunning hat-trick against Vitoria de Setubal made plenty sit up and take note. Since then, he's notched another three times and seems to be uncontainable for teams in the Portuguese Primeira Liga.

Here's a taste of what all the fuss is about:

But it’d be wise for all of the interested parties to bide their time when it comes to this potential signing. We’ve seen myriad players tear it up initially before burning out on the continent, and to splash out £18 million on a player still wet behind the ears when it comes to the European game would be a huge gamble.

If Talisca can continue to perform to the high standards he’s already set both domestically and in Europe, expect Arsenal to lead a queue of clubs that are especially keen on his signature.