Arsenal Transfer News: Barcelona Rebuff Javier Mascherano Enquiry
The Express, The Gunners had lodged an enquiry with Barcelona concerning the availability of their defensive lynchpin but have seen their efforts shot down by the Catalan club. After a summer of frustration at the Emirates Arsenal have been active on deadline day and set to soon smash their transfer record with the £42.4 million signing of Mesut Ozil. Wenger is apparently also in pursuit of Demba Ba and has made enquiries about Paris Saint-Germain's Javier Pastore, but last week's signing of Mathieu Flamini aside, there has been little activity concerning defensive players until now. But regardless of ambition, Barcelona appear to have made it clear that their Argentine international is not for sale, meaning Wenger will have to look elsewhere if he wishes to bolster the defensive ambitions, something which is surely a priority for the Frenchman following the sidelining of Mikel Arteta with a torn quadricep.