Arsenal Transfer News: Latest on Karim Benzema and Wojciech Szczesny Rumours

Arsenal are reportedly still hoping to sign Real Madrid star Karim Benzema but will only be able to land him if Los Blancos sign Robert Lewandowski.

According to Kike Marin of Spanish outlet El Confidencial (h/t Uche Amako of the Express), Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is "ready to pounce" on the striker, but the move will only be sanctioned if Real can prise Lewandowski from Munich.

Further, Real president "Florentino Perez is a big fan of the Poland striker and wants to bring him to the Bernabeu but faces resistance from [Madrid manager] Zinedine Zidane, who is fond for his compatriot."

As noted by Sport Witness, the Frenchman has long been linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium:

Arsenal are in desperate need of his services—if it wasn't already, it became abundantly clear that Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott aren't enough to fire a team to the title on their own, and a ruthless finisher is needed.

Benzema enjoyed a fine campaign for Real yet again—in 27 La Liga games, he racked up 24 goals and eight assists.

Spanish football writer Andrew Gaffney of Yahoo Sport UK believes he's a hugely important player to Real:

Indeed, his selfless play and ability to create chances for his team-mates add yet more feathers to his considerable cap. 

He's also an excellent dribbler, per WhoScored.com:

If Real were to land Lewandowski, it seems highly likely that Benzema would be allowed to leave. 

Unfortunately for Arsenal, Bayern will fight tooth and nail to keep him—per Italian radio station Radio Crc (h/t Joe Short of the Express), technical director Michael Reschke recently said: "I can say with certainty that Lewandowski will play for Bayern Munich next season. His contract expires in three years’ time, he’s the best striker in the world and there’s no chance of him being sold."

In other news, according to Claudio Colla of TransferMarketWeb, Roma could be set to open talks with Arsenal over another move for goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who spent the season on loan with the Giallorossi.

Felice Calabro'/Associated Press

The Pole had a fairly strong season at the Stadio Olimpico, but with Petr Cech now at Arsenal there's little prospect of a return to first-team action with the Gunners.

Based on his comments to Italian newspaper Il Tempo (h/t Jamie Anderson of the Daily Star), he may have already made up his mind: "I know where I will be playing next season, but I won’t tell. I learned more in four months under [Luciano] Spalletti than in 10 years in England. He puts a lot of importance on playing the ball to feet. One day we trained for over 45 minutes just on goal kicks."

The Gunners also have David Ospina in their squad, so it would probably be best for all parties if they cashed in on him this summer.