Arsenal transfer news: Gunners ‘close to signing Alexander Kokorin ahead of

With Karim Benzema slamming the brakes on Arsenal’s bid for his services, the Gunners have switched to Plan B and stepped up their pursuit of Dynamo Moscow’s Aleksandr Kokorin.

In fact, less than a week ago United were reported to be in talks with the Kokorin.

According to the Metro, Arsenal are closing in on a deal for the 24-year-old Russian forward and hope to upend efforts by Man United, Tottenham, PSG and Zenit to get his signature.

Kokorin scored for his worldwide side at last summer’s World Cup, albeit his side were eliminated before the knockout phase.

Now in surprise links, it has been claimed that Arsenal are planning to make a swoop for Russian striker Aleksandr Kokorin as an alternative to Benzema.

He is now in his second spell with Dynamo after joining Anzhi Makhachkala in 2013, albeit he didn’t play for the Dagestan club as their change in transfer approach forced the sales of most of their big name stars.

The 24-year-old has been an efficient player in the Russian league and he has considerable experience of worldwide football, but it would be interesting to see whether he is capable of performing consistently in the Premier League.