Why Wenger in Paris isn’t what it seems for Arsenal
Published:
Arsenal fans rejoiced at the start of transfer deadline day as news leaked that manager Arsene Wenger was on his way to Paris.
This led to widespread speculation that the Gunners boss was to finally give up hope of prising Karim Benzema from Real Madrid and instead attempt to lure PSG’s Edinson Cavani to the Emirates.
The Londoners are still priced as the 4/1 favourites to land the Uruguayan should he decide to call time on his stay with the Parisiens, while Manchester United can be backed at 6/1.
However,. While the bookmakers have north London as Cavani’s most likely destination, reports emerged this afternoon that Wenger could in fact be in the French capital to revive his interest in Cavani’s PSG team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Wenger is also rumoured to be keen on signing Adrien Rabiot but is expected to be told that neither the Frenchman nor Cavani are for sale.
Instead, PSG chiefs will inform Wenger that 33-year-old Ibrahimovic will be allowed to leave the Parc des Princes before tonight’s deadline.
The Swede may be entering the twilight years of his career but his enviable record of winning a league title in 12 of the last 13 season would certainly appeal to Wenger and Gunners fans who have been starved of a league win since 2004.
Ibrahimovic may be the wrong side of 30 but his goal figures for the past three seasons indicate that Arsenal would still be getting a striker capable of finding the net on a regular basis.
A debut season’s tally of 35 goals in 46 games showed that PSG had been able to get Ibrahimovic to recreate the form that saw him win titles at Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona and Milan and a return of 41 from 45 matches in 2013-15 cemented that fact.
Concerns about his age were allayed last year with a haul of 30 goals from 35 games and if Wenger can get even half of those goals from him in the Premier League, Arsenal could well make good on odds of 6/1 to wrestle the league crown from Chelsea.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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