The Gunners wants Sven, and not Lars Bender…
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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has earmarked the holding midfielder he wants to sign to rejuvenate his squad this summer…
The veteran French manager, who has just signed a new three year contract to stay at the Emirates, wants to bring in Borussia Dortmund’s 25-year-old Sven Bender, reports the Daily Mail.
The Gunners have consistently been linked to Sven’s twin brother Lars, who stars for Bayer Leverkusen, and had an £18.5m bid rejected at the end of last summer.
Lars is combative and dynamic, and is actually higher rated than Sven – despite the fact the latter has won two Bundesliga titles with Dortmund and reached a Champions League final with Jurgen Klopp’s outfit.
While his brother prides himself on his all-action, offensive and defensive approach, Sven Bender prefers to sit deep in the midfield instead, providing a base and a platform from which the rest of the side can perform.
The report today claims that Arsenal are readying a £15m bid for his services, which could the German giants into selling.
Last term, injuries affected Bender’s campaign, and he was restricted to 19 Bundesliga appearances in all. When he managed to get on the pitch though, he made regular tackles and interceptions, and played the ball carefully to teammates alongside him – winning most of his aerial duels (2.5 per match) as well.
In this respect, Bender could arrive at the Emirates as a long-term replacement for Mikel Arteta, who is now relatively immobile and went missing a lot in big matches last term.
He could start deep in Arsenal’s midfield, allowing the likes of Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere to bomb forward and contribute offensively.
Bender’s won seven caps for Germany so far, but hasn’t been selected for Joachim Lowe’s World Cup squad because of his injury ravaged season.
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