Wenger to break the bank for German teen sensation Gotze
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will take the cost of his summer spending to £35million by adding Borussia Dortmund's £25m-rated teenage midfielder Mario Gotze to Cologne striker Lukas Podolski as his two major buys.
Gotze, just 19 but recognised already as one of the brightest hopes in Germany, is ready to join Wenger's rebuilding project - smashing Arsenal's record 2009 purchase of £15m Andrey Arshavin in the process.
Keen on Arsenal move: Mario Gotze
Dortmund turned down an Arsenal bid for Gotze worth more than £20m last summer and are currently talking to the midfielder about extending his deal at the club. Gotze has been out injured for two months with a groin injury but he is expected to feature in Germany's Euro 2012 squad.
He is understood to be keen to join Arsenal, who entertain Newcastle in the Barclays Premier League on Monday, and if Wenger can pull off the transfer it will be a major coup for the club and represent a huge vote of confidence by owner Stan Kroenke in the Frenchman's ability to rebuild.
It is hoped that the Podolski and Gotze deals will help persuade Robin van Persie to commit his future to the club, although it is feared that Alex Song will leave in the summer, with Rennes midfielder Yann M'Vila lined up as a replacement.
Sour ending: Lukas Podolski's Cologne career appears over following a bust-up with coach Stale Solbakken after being sent off for aiming a head butt at an opponent against Hertha Berlin today
Wenger's transfer fund is likely to stretch to the £25m required for Gotze, whose contract with Dortmund runs out in 2014, but with Podolski also costing around £10m, Arsenal will need to sell Arshavin to Zenit St Petersburg and permanently move on players like Nicklas Bendtner, Carlos Vela and Denilson to fund the deal.
The club would also be looking to sell Sebastian Squillaci, Marouane Chamakh and Park Chu-Young.
Standing out: Alex Oxlade Chamberlain
Alan Pardew, meanwhile, is hoping his former schoolboy protege does not inflict damage on Newcastle's European ambitions.
When the Newcastle manager was in charge at Southampton he gave Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain his first-team debut at 16 and has watched the Arsenal winger blossom.
'He just stood out,' said Pardew. 'He should go with England to the Euros.
