Arsenal were unsuccessful in their bid to bring Lars Bender to the Emirates Stadium last summer. Arsenal have sent scouts to watch the combative midfielder in action in the Bundesliga this season, and have been hugely impressed by his performances.

According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal are determined to land Bender at the end of the season after missing out on him last summer. Wenger sees him as the ideal holding midfielder to let the plethora of attacking talent flourish ahead of him.

The Gunners have arguably failed to replace ace holding midfielder Alex Song, who left for Barcelona in the summer of 2012. Mikel Arteta has been used in that position, and more recently Mathieu Flamini. However, both players are above 30 years of age and Wenger wants a younger option to shield the back four.

The report suggests that Wenger has identified 24-year-old Bender as the perfect midfield enforcer to take Arsenal to the next level. They have also been linked with Borussia Dortmund’s Ilkay Gundogan, but the Arsenal board feel landing Bender will be a more realistic option.