Despite having a plethora of midfielders to choose from, Arsene Wenger is targeting central midfielder Lars Bender of Bayer Leverkusen. Wenger was interested in the 25-year-old last summer but could not agree on a fee with the German club.

The Gunners are short on defensive-minded midfielders but have an array of attacking types in the form of Jack Wilshere, Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, amongst others. Mikel Arteta looks set to leave the club once his contract expires next summer and Wenger is looking at replacements.

He has once again targeted Bender and is ready to make a bid in the region of £21 million for the German international, according to the Express. Bayer have already sold fellow midfielder Emre Can to Liverpool and Arsenal will have to financially tempt the German outfit to push through a transfer.

However, the report suggests that Bender is keen to leave the Bundesliga and Bayer will sell if they find a deal financially attractive.