Arsenal to push ahead with £45m Benzema bid, according to reports…

Arsene Wenger may have distanced himself from reports linking Arsenal to a huge bid for Karim Benzema, but the speculation refuses to disappear.

According to the Daily Mail, Wenger has been given the green light to pursue a club-record £45m transfer for the Real Madrid striker, which would eclipse the £42.5m the Gunners paid for Mesut Ozil. Benzema would also become the highest earner at the Emirates Stadium, with the Arsenal hierarchy apparently believing he's the missing link in a title challenge against Chelsea, Man City and Man United. Wenger is quoted in the Sunday papers as saying: "It is not as simple that you just sign a striker like Benzema and then mathematically you win the title. It doesn't work like that." But despite that caution, it seems Arsenal could soon push ahead with the deal.