Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will have to go up against Barcelona for the signature of Bayer Leverkusen defensive midfielder Lars Bender, after the Catalan giants identified the German as a player they would like to bring to the Nou Camp.
Currently Barcelona is banned from signing any players until 2016 after breaking FIFA rules regarding the signing of international players under the age of 18.
This of course gives Arsenal a huge advantage, but there is nothing to stop Barcelona from doing a deal that will see the 25-year-old move to the club once the ban id lifted next January.
In order to avoid competition with Barcelona, Wenger may instead go after Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin a player they have been linked with for some time now, and despite competition from Tottenham and Manchester United, Arsenal seem confident of landing the French star.
Despite the fact that Francis Coquelin has just signed a new contract with the club it will not stop Wenger of bringing in a world class defensive midfielder next summer, be it Bender, Schneiderlin, or even Borussia Dortmund’s Ilkay Gundogan.
