Wenger set to splash the cash

Published Aug 26, 2016

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Arsene Wenger will splash out more than £50million before the transfer deadline on centre half Shkodran Mustafi and striker Lucas Perez.

Arsenal have had bids accepted on both players and are confident of clinching the deals before the transfer window closes on Wednesday.

It should ease the pressure on Wenger with supporters demanding that he bolster his squad after only one point from their first two Premier League games.

Germany international Mustafi, a long-standing defensive target for Wenger, is set to cost £35m.

Valencia have resisted Arsenal’s advances this summer, but are finally prepared to do business after lining up a deal for Brazilian defender Sidnei for £8m from Deportivo La Coruna as a replacement.

Perez, meanwhile, has a release clause in his contract at Deportivo of £16.9m, which was met by both Arsenal and Everton.

The Spanish club preferred Everton’s offer because it was to be paid in a single instalment, up front, as opposed to Arsenal’s two-stage payment but the 27-year-old striker told them he wants to join the London club because of the appeal of Champions League football. He is expected to sign a four-year deal.

Perez was prolific last season in a struggling Deportivo team, having made a permanent return to his hometown club following a year on loan with PAOK in Greece.

He scored 17 in 37 games — including a run of seven goals in seven successive games between October and December last year — and was on target again last week in the opening game of the La Liga campaign against Eibar.

Wenger, whose options up front have been curtailed by a long-term injury suffered by England forward Danny Welbeck, has been anxious to add firepower to his squad after a failed attempt to sign Jamie Vardy from Leicester earlier this summer.

For 24-year-old Mustafi a move to Arsenal would mark a return to English football, four years after leaving Everton.

He moved to Merseyside from Hamburg at the age of 16 only to be sold to Sampdoria, having played just once for the Goodison Park club in a Europa League tie.

From Sampdoria he joined Valencia where his form proved strong enough to earn him a late call into Joachim Low’s squad for the World Cup in 2014. He was also in the squad for Euro 2016.

If Wenger can complete the two signings before Wednesday’s deadline, it will take Arsenal’s summer spending close to £100m.

They signed Granit Xhaka for £32m from Borussia Monchengladbach and Rob Holding from Bolton for £2.5m. – Daily Mail

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