Edinson Cavani to Arsenal: Arsene Wenger arrives in Paris as Gunners pursue late deals for PSG pair

Gunners target: Edinson Cavani might be the elite forward that Wenger is seeking
VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images
James Olley1 September 2015

Arsenal were this morning attempting to open talks with Paris St Germain over the possible transfers of Edinson Cavani and Adrien Rabiot.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger was pictured in Paris today with the club hopeful of receiving encouragement in their admiration for both players, who are long-term targets.

Wenger admitted defeat in his attempts to sign Karim Benzema from Arsenal and is only interested in adding an elite centre-forward to his squad.

Cavani fits that bill having scored 36 goals in 59 games for PSG since his £55million move from Napoli. However, while the Ligue 1 club are open to allowing Zlatan Ibrahimovic to leave today - an option Wenger could perhaps pursue as a last-gasp, short-term alternative - they are yet to offer Arsenal any indication Cavani could also be made available.

The Gunners have enquired about Rabiot on several occasions with the 20-year-old close to a move to Arsenal last summer only for the transfer to fall through.

Wenger is keen on giving Francis Coquelin the chance to make the defensive midfield position his own this season and does not view the position as the same priority he did in January.

However, Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini are now into their thirties and Rabiot would offer long-term competition for Coquelin in that position and although he remains highly rated by PSG, it is believed that, of the two, a deal for him is more feasible than Cavani at this stage.

What to expect on transfer deadline day

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Wenger has insisted he will not panic buy and is not expected to bolster his squad for the sake of it despite many supporters calling for further additions to the £10million capture of Petr Cech from Chelsea.

Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has attracted interest from Galatasaray but the Turkish transfer window closed last night so any potential transfer would now have to wait until next year.

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