One of the biggest transfer sagas of the summer centres around Arsenal’s reported pursuit of Karim Benzema, but he is not the only Real Madrid player linked with the Gunners.
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While the Daily Mail were writing about Arsenal’s plans to make Benzema the club’s highest earner, The Mirror, the Metro and Daily Star were all picking up on reports by Spanish newspaper AS, claiming that the Gunners were also keen on Real midfielder Lucas Silva.
The Star claim that Arsenal are the favourites to sign the 22-year-old Brazilian, but The Mirror state that they face competition from Chelsea and Manchester United.
Silva joined Real in January from Cruzeiro – for £9.7m according to the Star – and he did fairly well in eight La Liga outings under Carlo Ancelotti.
However, the Star claim that he is not wanted by new boss Rafael Benitez, making him a very attainable transfer target for England’s top teams.
It is no wonder Silva is struggling to convince Benitez that he has a future at the Bernabeu. After all, Casemiro, Asier Illarramendi, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric are all ahead of him in the pecking order.
If Silva were to join Arsenal, he would have a great chance of forcing his way into Arsene Wenger’s first XI on a regular basis.
Wenger’s options in defensive midfield are currently limited to Francis Coquelin, Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini.
However, one struggles to see how he could make an impact at Old Trafford, with Bastian Schweinsteiger, Morgan Schneiderlin and Michael Carrick in his way.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Nemanja Matic and Ramires, who can all play in Silva’s preferred position.
Silva is primarily a defensive-minded player, but he has got the ability to find the net – as this stunner from his time in Brazil demonstrates…
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