Arsenal ready to hurry through £19m Lars Bender transfer deal as Barcelona join hunt

Arsenal are trying to push through a £19million deal for Bayer Leverkusen star Lars Bender – after Barcelona joined the race.
The Gunners have been chasing Bender since last summer and have turned their attention to signing him this week, with a move for Sami Khedira looking unlikely.
And now reports say Arsene Wenger is trying to hurry through a £19million deal for Bender, after being told that Barca are ready to make a bid.

Arsenal want the tough-tackling defensive midfielder signed up as soon as possible and are hopeful of getting a deal done before Barca can open talks.