According to The Daily Mail, Arsenal are set to make another bid for Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Lars Bender this summer. Arsenal attempted to sign him last summer, but failed.
Arsenal are very much interested in a holding midfielder to do the defensive duties to allow the attacking players to operate at their best. Bender is seen as the perfect holding midfielder for The Gunners.
Holding midfielders have showed their worth recently, like Matic for Chelsea and Yaya Toure for City. Having a presence in midfield is vital in dominating the midfield and Arsenal lack that guy at the moment.
Arsenal failed to bring Bender in last summer for 19 million pounds, but are set to offer whatever it takes to get him this summer. Arsenal are also very much interested in Gundogan from Dortmund but feel that Bender will be a lot easier to sign.
The Daily Mail is usually a trustworthy newspaper and is on top of transfer rumors, so I give this an 8 out of 10 as far as rumour strength. Arsenal have been interested in Bender for quite some time, so this looks reasonable.
If Bender did transfer to Arsenal, he would bring a lot of qualities that The Gunners desperately need. They lack a defensive minded midfielder who can sit in front of the back four and make tackles and recover the ball. Currently Arsenal are playing Arteta and Oxlade Chamberlain in that role.
Bender is a box to box player who is still only 24 years of age. Bender would no doubt improve Arsenal. This potential transfer gets a 9 out of 10 as far as helping the side.
Looking at Arsenal, I can very much see them going after a player like Bender. Arsenal lack a strong, physical, holding midfielder who can arguably affect the game like a Toure or Matic. Bender currently plays in the Bundesliga for Leverkusen but I can definitely see him making the switch come summer. At the moment, I would say that this transfer looks about a 70 percent chance of happening.
