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Arsenal’s £70m bid revealed as Wenger looks to sign South American

By on June 7, 2017

According to a report in the Metro, Arsenal are one of only two clubs to have submitted formal offers for James Rodriguez after testing Real Madrid’s resolve with a bid worth just below £70m.

Arsene Wenger is expected to be busy this summer after signing a new two-year contract as he’s under pressure to mount a serious title challenge next season having missed out on the top four.

We’ve been linked with a number of big-name attackers in recent weeks such as Kylian Mbappe, Alexandre Lacazette and Riyad Mahrez but it looks like we’ve formalised our interest in Rodriguez.

The Metro are citing news coming from Spanish television show El Chiringuito that claims Arsenal are leading the race to sign Rodriguez after tabling an offer worth £69.8m (€80m).

According to the report, the only other team to submit an offer is Inter Milan but their bid was also short of Madrid’s valuation as the Champions League holders look to create a bidding war.

It’s difficult to know how much truth there is behind this report as there is always plenty of speculation flying about at this time of year but, assuming it’s true, I think £70m for Rodriguez is reasonable given his role in the Madrid squad.

The 25-year-old has struggled to hold down a regular place since moving to Spain and started just 13 La Liga games last season with several players ahead of him in the pecking order.

Rodriguez was already expected to find a new club this summer but that was all-but confirmed when Zidane left him out of the squad entirely for Madrid’s Champions League final win over Juventus.

READ: Arsenal in talks to sign £50m striker

Therefore, it’s clear he isn’t considered as an important first team player at the Bernabeu so I think Madrid should seriously consider our £70m offer – if we really have put that on the table.

For me, an out-and-out striker should be the priority for Wenger this summer but Rodriguez is a top player so he’d be welcomed at Arsenal – although I fear we’re looking at him as a replacement for Alexis Sanchez.