There have been many Arsenal transfer rumours linking the Gunners with a move for the wantaway Monaco striker Radamel Falcao, but there have been a couple of strange twists in the last 24 hours.
First of all, it seemed that Arsene Wenger had ruled out buying another striker when it was reported in the Express:
When asked about a free transfer swoop for Zigic, Wenger replied: “Zigic? No.” He also bluntly stated “No” when moves for Welbeck and Falcao were put to him. “You will ask me straight away who we will buy. I give you the answer – at the moment, no-one,” Wenger added.
“If you want to make everyone happy you buy all of these players but what is important is the performance on the football pitch. If you look at the players we had on the bench and those out injured, we have players. You cannot buy every time a player is injured.
“We are open for any position as long as we feel the player can strengthen the squad. Buy to buy? I don’t see the purpose of that.”
The only flaw with that is he didn’t rule out a LOAN, which is what the deal with Falcao will be. But first of all we got a report late last night that said that Real Madrid had made a move and snatched Falcao out of our clutches. The Telegraph described the situation as:
Arsenal’s hopes of signing Radamel Falcao are over after Real Madrid completed a £20m deal to sign the striker from Monaco. (calciomercato)
BUT just now the Metro are reporting that Madrid have pulled out of the deal, and Arsenal are now the only team left willing to pay 20 million for a one-year loan deal. Their report said:
Arsenal are clear to sign Monaco striker Radamel Falcao after Real Madrid ditched their interest in the Colombia star.
Falcao has been given permission to leave Monaco on-loan this summer in return for £20million, and reports this week suggested that Arsenal and Madrid were going head-to-head for his signature.
But now the Gunners have a clear run to grab the 28-year-old with the Spanish press saying that Madrid have now ended their interest in trying to sign him.
The news comes after Falcao told Arsenal he is ready to move to the Emirates Stadium and senior officials held talks with Monaco about a switch.
Wenger has made it clear that he won’t bring in anyone unless they are an improvement on the players Arsenal already have at the club. Surely Falcao fulfils that condition?