By Rob Draper
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Arsene Wenger is ready to smash Arsenal's transfer record this week with bids for three of Europe's fastest-rising stars.
The news that the club are thinking big, with moves for Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain, Borussia Dortmund's Ilkay Gundogan and Bayer Leverkusen's Lars Bender, will come as a massive relief to Arsenal fans after years of frugality and summers of losing their own stars.
Big move: Arsenal want Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain
Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis promised 'an escalation in our financial firepower' last week and Wenger is convinced he can transform his team into title contenders.
The Arsenal manager believes that Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement from Manchester United represents an opportunity for the for the club to regain some prestige and challenge for the title and the signing of Argentina striker Higuain is expected to be their most important transfer of the summer at a cost of 20million.
Wenger is also determined to bolster his midfield and his No 1 target is Gundogan, whose holding midfield role was crucial to Borussia Dortmund's impressive run to the Champions League final.
Gundogan scored their penalty equaliser at Wembley, but could not prevent Bayern Munich's 2-1 victory.
He would cost 20m but a bid for Bayer Leverkusen's 17m-rated Bender is also being lined up, in case Arsenal are unable to complete a deal on Gundogan. Any one of the potential fees for Arsenal's three targets would surpass the 15m record transfer paid for Andrey Arshavin in 2009.
Wenger's No 1 target: Ilkay Gundogan of Borussia Dortmund
Thinking big: Arsenal Arsene Wenger is ready to splash the cash
Arsenal are ready to move now, having already been disappointed to miss their first target, Dortmund's Mario Gotze. The club had an earlier 25m bid for Gotze turned down but were hopeful of returning this summer with 32m, which would have activated his release clause. But Gotze announced in April that he would be joining Bayern.
The north London club are determined to move quicker in the transfer market ever since the debacle of 2011, which saw them lose Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri and scramble to replace them on the last day of the transfer window.
While Arsenal are confident of securing Higuain, there is still interest in him from Juventus, who have lost out to Chelsea in the race to sign Fiorentina's Stevan Jovetic.
Wenger has said that this summer is the first for two years in which he expects to keep all his key players. He has a reserve fund of around 70m to spend, although that has to cover wages as well. In Higuain's case that is likely to be 150,000 a week or almost 8m a year, making him Arsenal's top earner.
Impressive: Germany's Lars Bender (left)
Gundogan, 22, who has seven Germany caps, is seen as the perfect fit for the holding midfield role Wenger wishes to fill and his staff have scouted more extensively than ever before in the Bundesliga.
But Gundogan may be difficult to prise away from Dortmund, with Real Madrid having expressed an interest in signing him in a year's time.
If that is the case, Wenger will move for Bender, 24, also a Germany international who has 14 caps and whose twin brother Sven also starred in Dortmund's Champions League run.
Arsenal will search for a centre-half and are willing to listen to offers for club captain Thomas Vermaelen.
Surprised that there not saying 100 million for Messi Ronaldo Falcao
- BigBlueBill , Herts, 10/6/2013 12:56
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