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According to Joaquin Maroto, Arsenal have placed -- and had rejected -- a bid for Borussia Dortmund's star winger-and-or-striker Marco Reus as the transfer blast doors crawl closed.
El @Arsenal acaba de presentar una oferta de 40 millones por Reus que dinamita la del Madrid. Aún así, la rechaza el Dortmund.
— JOAQUIN MAROTO (@AS_Maroto) September 1, 2014
So, some questions. First of all, here's the Google Translate version of that tweet:
Arsenal just make an offer of 40 million for Reus dynamite Madrid. Still, rejects Dortmund.
Are we talking €40 million, or £40 million? I'd assume that since the team involved is German and the writer in question is in Spain, we're talking Euros, which converts to around £32 million. If my hunch there is correct, that would mean there's some room to negotiate, as I could definitely see Arsenal going over £32 million for a player like Marco Reus. We've done it before, you know.
The other question is: which Madrid? Atletico Madrid has been rumored to be after Reus for quite some time, but after the Falcao loan ended up not happening, it's certainly conceivable that Real Madrid would try to go after Reus as well. This tweet from Maroto claims Real are after him, so.
El Madrid va a fichar un centrocampista de tronío, que intentará que sea Reus, y a lo mejor un 9, que no será ni Falcao ni Negredo.
— JOAQUIN MAROTO (@AS_Maroto) August 31, 2014
So it appears we might be trying to swoop in and take Marco Reus from under Real Madrid's grasp. It's deadline day, so the grain of salt I'm taking this with is incomprehensibly large, but remember that Kike Marin reported earlier in the summer that we had a deal in place for Reus that was abandoned after his pre-World Cup injury. It doesn't mean it's going to happen, but I can at least tell you about these reports with a straight face. Which isn't something that can be done a lot of the time on deadline day.