• Premier League

Wenger confirms interest in Cavani

Arsene Wenger is hopeful of being able to turn his attentions to strengthening his Arsenal squad next week, amid talk of a bid for Edinson Cavani.

Wenger has maintained throughout the January transfer window that he would only look to boost his options once Theo Walcott's future had been decided. The Arsenal boss claimed on Thursday that he hoped the England international would commit to a new deal before the weekend is out.

With that in mind, he will have 10 days to boost his options and Napoli star Cavani has been linked with the Gunners.

Wenger has expressed admiration for the striker, but has admitted he would have to dig deep to secure his signature.

"Cavani is a player that I like," Wenger said on Thursday. "What is for sure is that he costs a lot of money."

Cavani has 16 goals to his name in Serie A this season and has also attracted interest from Manchester City.

Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha is one of the hottest properties outside of the Premier League and a day after Manchester United chief executive David Gill confirmed their interest, Wenger has done likewise.

"We're looking at Zaha but there's no bid," Wenger said. "Whenever you call about any player, Man United or [AC] Milan are also interested. The truth is it's difficult."

Wenger feels there could well be plenty of activity in the final week of the window.

"The prices go always up at the start of the transfer window and go down in the last week," he said.

"Sometimes as well they go up in the last week but it depends. Most of the time they go down. You know that 90 per cent of transfer activity happens in the last week if not in the last 48 hours."

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