If you thought the start of La Liga season had no impact on the Premier League, think again. The tremors of the dull draw between Real Madrid and the newly promoted Sporting Gijon could be felt as far as North London. The stutter of the much acclaimed Los Blancos sent a message to the Emirates that Karim Benzema is Still needed more at Real than he is at Arsenal.
The Gunners have been eternally linked to the French striker. Not a single transfer window goes without linking him to the club. Some of the over-enthusiastic tabloids also pointed to a special jet being sent to ferry him for a medical. If anything, this transfer window has already seen Benzema sign for the club multiple times.
Unfortunately, there is nothing of this sort being heard from Madrid. The player himself if recuperating from an injury and his absence is dearly felt all over the pitch in the opening match by Real Madrid.
Benzema is a player highly rated not just for his striking prowess but also for his work ethic. He is a very unselfish player who revels as much in the goals by Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale as much in his own. Truth be told, he is an unheralded hero in the midst of giants of the Madrid team.
The misery of the strike force combining Ronaldo, Bale and Jese only highlights the virtue of having Benzema in your squad. It is a stark reminder why he is wanted at the Emirates. Sadly for Wenger and the Gunners’ supporters, this could be one move which may have died its natural death in the weekend.
It is not that the Madrid hierarchy does not value Benzema. Ever since the Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain is sold to Napoli in 2013, the value of Benzema to the side has grown multifold.
Wenger is right when he bemoaned the paucity of ‘quality strikers’ recently. Benzema is up there with the best and brings the unique ability of making everyone around him look better. It would be a huge bonus for Wenger if he can pull the coup of signing Benzema but it would be really foolish of Madrid if they sell him. Going by the current trend, it looks highly unlikely that Wenger will have his wish fulfilled. As he said after last nights game: “That story [is dead] but it has always been created every week, again and again. We do not master that situation. When the player has a contract it’s the club who owns the contract who decides that and I have said that many times.
“We want to master the situation of the players who are under contract with us. We had Wilshere and Welbeck out tonight, Alexis is not completely at his best. We know that we can score goals and we will score goals again.”
So can we all safely forget about this interminable transfer rumour?
Sridhar