The Gunners are interested in Leverkusen’s Bender.
Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Lars Bender remains a transfer target for Arsenal as the north London side renew their interest in the German, according to the Daily Mail.
The Gunners tried to sign the 24-year-old last summer, but failed with a £19m bid for the Germany international and are looking to try again at the end of the season.
Manager Arsene Wenger views Bender as the ideal long-term replacement for Mikel Arteta – who has just turned 32-years-old – as the Leverkusen star is a true box-to-box player.
Arteta has been criticised at times since being converted to a deep-lying playmaker, as the Spaniard doesn’t seem as willing to become physical in the middle of the park.
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This is not a problem for Bender, whom chief scout Steve Rowley has been watching on several occasions this year as the north Londoners expand their scouting network.
The midfield ace broke into the 1860 Munich first team in 2006 along with twin brother Sven – who is now at Borussia Dortmund – before leaving for Leverkusen in 2009.
Since then Bender has played 171 times for the German side in all competitions and has also earned 17 caps for the national team to date and is expected to be in Joachim Loew’s 23-man squad for 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
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