Arsene Wenger cools Sami Khedira rumours as Thomas Vermaelen nears Arsenal transfer exit
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has distanced himself from a move for Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira but admits there is every chance he will make further signings before the transfer window shuts next month.
Wenger last week acknowledged his interest in Khedira, a signing which would add to the club’s nucleus of German players.
Fellow World Cup winners Mesut Ozil, Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski are all set to miss Sunday’s Community Shield against Manchester City and the start of the season as they continue to recover from their exertions in Brazil.
And while Wenger has confirmed he is prepared to loosen the purse strings further after spending £35m on Chile forward Alexis Sanchez, he is keen to point out Arsenal have not been shy in their transfer market dealings.
“We were never close to signing him [Khedira] because Jack Wilshere has come back fit and in midfield we have quite a few offensive box-to-box players,” Wenger said yesterday.
“We still have three-and-a-half weeks before the transfer market is closed [on 1 September] and we are open to it. But it has to be a player who can strengthen our squad because let’s not forget that Joel Campbell has come back, plus the additions of Mathieu Debuchy, Calum Chambers and Sanchez.
“We have already bought four players, we have not lost players so we have a big squad. At the moment I can’t give any news but we have not closed the door.”
One player who looks certain to leave Emirates Stadium is club captain Thomas Vermaelen and Wenger revealed Arsenal had received multiple bids for the Belgium defender, with Manchester United and Barcelona credited with an interest. Wenger does not plan to stand in the way of a player who started just 13 games last season in all competitions, but his preference would be to see Vermaelen ply his trade on foreign shores and not in the Premier League.
“I’ve said since the start of pre-season that Thomas could leave because he needs to play now,” added Wenger. “Ideally I would rather sell him abroad, which is an option. I don’t want to say which clubs are interested but we have offers from abroad as well.”
Arsenal will today learn their opponent for this month’s Champions League play-off. They could face Athletic Bilbao, Standard Liege, Lille, Besiktas or Copenhagen.