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Home / Sport / Football

Soccer: Gunners hunt Suarez, Spurs seek Benteke

Daily Telegraph UK
13 Jul, 2013 05:30 PM4 mins to read

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Arsenal remain focused on Liverpool striker Luis Suarez while North London rivals Tottenham are set to offer Aston Villa £20 million for star striker Christian Benteke.

Arsenal have had a £30 million offer rejected but, with Suarez saying the interest had made him feel "valued", they feel encouraged to launch a second bid. Liverpool would be obliged to tell Suarez of a £40 million-plus offer and the prospect of Champions League football would be a major selling point in Arsenal's favour.

Suarez, though, has previously indicated he wants to leave English football. It is understood his preferred destination is still Real Madrid. Arsenal have also been trying to push through the £22 million transfer of Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain and there is a theory the Suarez offer is partly motivated by a desire to speed up those negotiations.

Arsenal enjoyed a rapturous reception in Jakarta when they arrived for an Asia tour that begins with a match against an Indonesian "Dream Team" tomorrow before fixtures in Vietnam and Japan.

In his first press conference of the summer, manager Arsene Wenger declined to say if Arsenal would pay £40 million for Suarez but hinted a deal was still possible: "We're hoping we will be in a position where we can answer this question," he said.

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Suarez's agent, Pere Guardiola, reiterated the player's desire to leave at a meeting with Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers last week. Suarez then said that, although he is due to report back for pre-season training on July 21, "a phone call could change everything. It's good to know that I am still valued by teams like Arsenal."

Liverpool are determined not to let the Suarez situation overshadow their summer and Rodgers stressed on Friday he was still in constant dialogue with his star player.

"He has got three years left on his contract, we don't want to sell him, and we hope everything will be fine for the summer," said Rodgers. "The facts remain the same. He's a very valued player, an absolute magician on the football field. We'll communicate in some way nearly every day, either through text or through a conversation. Luis is a real competitor, a real winner."

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Liverpool have already signed goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, defender Kolo Toure and forwards Luis Alberto and Iago Aspaa but Rodgers still expects to be active in the transfer window.

Suarez will miss the season's first six matches as he completes a 10-game ban for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.

Meanwhile, Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas is expected to make the first move in his bid to sign Belgium international Benteke this week, testing the resolve of Aston Villa chairman Randy Lerner. Though Villa are insistent any bids under £25 million will be rejected, Spurs are confident of completing a deal for Benteke and believe the price tag on the 22-year-old (six goals in 14 appearances for Belgium; 19 in 34 appearances for Villa) is unrealistic.

Villa have made it clear only a straight cash offer will be considered but Villas-Boas has the backing of chairman Daniel Levy to kick off what is certain to be a bitter battle.

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Spurs are prepared to offer Benteke around £70,000 a week - a significant increase on his current salary - and can promise him first-team football, with Emmanuel Adebayor set to be sold. Benteke stunned Villa management last week by handing in a transfer request and is on leave. He is not scheduled to make his first appearance at pre-season training until Thursday.

Spurs are likely to have made their first bid by then and are determined to press for a resolution before they fly to Hong Kong for the Barclays Asia Cup this month. Their interest stems from a spurned deal for Barcelona striker David Villa, sold instead to Atlético Madrid last week.

Villas-Boas had earmarked Villa as a player who could add a major injection of quality and, after completing the £17 million signing of Paulinho, had hoped to push through a deal for Villa.

Villas-Boas has missed out on a series of high-profile targets since joining Tottenham last summer, notably Oscar, Joao Moutinho and Leandro Damiao, and clearly lacked attacking options last season with only Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor as his senior strikers. Tottenham have watched other strikers and it could be that chairman Daniel Levy is more attracted to a younger player.

Tottenham are already under pressure to offer Gareth Bale a significantly enhanced deal and it is likely the Wales forward will not be leaving this summer.

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