Arsenal have made a club record €30m bid for Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain, a player who has been chased by the Gunners and Juventus for over a month.

The Argentine confirmed he would leave the Bernabeu this summer, and Arsenal appear to have moved into pole position for him, with reports in the Spanish media agreeing.

Up front

Arsenal’s bid is considerably better than Juventus’s for a number of reasons. For a start, they’re willing to pay the money up front to Madrid, helping them  to shop for a replacement. Secondly, Arsenal’s bid is €8m greater than Juve’s instalment-based bid, meaning Real have more than one reason to accept it over the Italian side.

The BBC’s Arsenal specialist David Ornstein has confirmed Arsenal are after Higuain, and the player is keen. Higuain appears to be the key target over Wayne Rooney, though Arsenal are looking for a creative midfielder to compliment the more direct talents of Higuain. However, don’t expect an announcement any time soon.

Waiting game

Higuain won’t depart until Carlo Ancelotti finally takes his place as the new Real Madrid manager. He’s been engaged in a wrangle with PSG to allow him to break his contract with the French side and take charge at Madrid. Once he finally takes the helm (which could be tomorrow), he will make the final decision on Higuain.

There’s a small chance he’ll want to keep Higuain, or at least stall his departure until a replacement has been recruited, but the Italian has a personal friendship with Arsene Wenger, so there’s at least little chance of a Mourinho-style Nuri Sahin situation, where he lets him go elsewhere out of spite.

Try not to be impatient. I know it’s hard. At least wait until Higuain signs for Juventus, yeah?

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