Arsene Wenger's pursuit of a striker has been well-documented this winter, with pundits believing that a centre-forward was the one biggest missing ingredient in his quest for a Premier League winning side, particularly with injuries to Lukas Podolski and Yaya Sanogo, and an over-reliance on Olivier Giroud. And though the majority of the media today took Wenger's assertion that they were focusing on one player "at least" to mean they only expected to finalise one deal (likely for Kim Kallstrom,) it seems Wenger was in fact busy on other fronts. Sky Sports News have just confirmed that Arsenal have failed in a deadline day bid to sign Lille forward, and former Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou on loan. The French side are willing to let Kalou leave permanently, in order to get his wages off the books, but they aren't interested in a loan at this stage. Meanwhile, Talksport presenter Stan Collymore has suggested that Wenger has made another last-ditch attempt to sign Real Madrid youngster Alvaro Morata, who has been previously linked this window for a loan move. Madrid were said to be unwilling to let the player leave, as they rate him highly, but the prospect of some first team experience, especially working under Wenger and with the likes of Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil rather than lower level Madrid squad players could well twist their arm into submission.
