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Arsenal are apparently preparing a new bid for Bayern Leverkusen’s Lars Bender.

The club are reportedly set to make an offer of €26.2m (£21m) for the midfielder before the end of next week as they search for a defensive midfielder reports The Metro.

The sources says that The Gunners have previously been linked with Bender, with a £15 million being rejected last summer. The 25 year old would apparently like to play in England though, and even though the German outfit do not need to sell players a bid of this size may be enough to force the transfer through.

Bender has impressed pundits over the last few years with his strong performances in midfield, that have seen him become an integral part of Leverkusen’s team. He has made over 120 league appearances since joining the club from 1860 Munchen in 2009.

Arsenal looked set to challenge for The Premier League title last year for the first time in several seasons. However, despite their dominance in the majority of the games they played, they suffered humiliating defeats against Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City. These heavy losses put an end to any chance of the title.

Although the lack of a world class striker has been pinpointed as a potential reason for their failure to consistently perform in the big matches, an equally important position that needs addressing is in midfield.

Arsenal have a number of talented midfielders who can be incredibly effective while on the ball. Yet they have gone several seasons without a dedicated defensive midfielder, instead relying on Mikel Arteta to fill that role.

The addition of a world class defensive minded midfielder would not only shore up Arsenal at the back but potentially provide a better platform for the other more skilful players to get forward and exploit space.

Arsene Wenger must recognise this as his club have been linked with a number of powerful midfield men over the transfer window. Sami Khedira of Real Madrid and Paul Pogba of Juventus have both been speculated to be subject to interest from the North London side, although no transfer offers have yet been confirmed.

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