Report: Arsenal rejected Benzema offer

In the midst of negotiations over Angel Di Maria and Mesut Özil, Real Madrid tried to get Arsenal to take Karim Benzema off their hands - and Arsenal rejected the move, according to a report. Enrique Marin says (if I'm understanding this right; it's all in Spanish) that the player was twice offered to Arsene Wenger by Carlo Ancelotti, and twice Wenger declined. From Marin:

Además de dar el visto bueno al traspaso de Mesut Özil al Arsenal, Carlo Ancelotti intentó colocar a Karim Benzema para hacer sitio a otro delantero más de su gusto en el Real Madrid. De hecho, el club blanco ofreció al francés al Arsenal aprovechando las negociaciones por Di María, primero, y Özil, después, aunque Wenger no se planteó su fichaje. Así, tras la marcha de Higuaín al Nápoles, Benzema es uno de los tres delanteros de los que dispone el técnico italiano, junto a Jesé y Morata, además de Cristiano Ronaldo.

Here's the translation, such as it is (cleaned up a bit with my rudimentary Spanish skills):

In addition to giving approval to the transfer of Mesut Özil to Arsenal, Carlo Ancelotti attempted to move Karim Benzema to make room for another forward more to his liking at Real Madrid. In fact, the Frenchman was offered by the white club to Arsenal taking advantage of the negotiations by Di Maria, first, and then Özil, but Wenger was not moved. So, after the departure of Higuain to Napoli, Benzema is one of three forwards the Italian coach has, with Jesé and Morata, besides Cristiano Ronaldo.

This sounds a bit odd at first, especially when you take into account the fact that it's been reported for years that Benzema has been a target of Arsene Wenger. But perhaps the winds are changing on Benzema. He hasn't played well for France in a while - he hasn't scored in about a year - and it looks like though his performances for Madrid have been better, his reception isn't. On Sunday he assisted two goals for Isco in a 3-1 win against Athletic Bilbao, but was whistled by the home fans. Rather than sticking up for him, Ancelotti took the opportunity to stick the needle in a bit.

Today one thing was very clear. Benzema was whistled a bit, while Di Maria was applauded by whole stadium. The fans look closely at the players. It's a very clear sign for everyone that hard work is applauded.

That's ice cold. And sounds like a manager who'd be perfectly happy to offload his player which, if Marin is right, he tried to do the next day.

Evidently, Carlo Ancelotti does not like Karim Benzema very much. It would appear that Arsene Wenger doesn't either. Considering the fact that Wenger offered nearly as much for Luis Suarez as he did for Mesut Özil, that says quite a lot about his opinion of Benzema.