Squawka have dangled an Antoine Griezmann-shaped carrot in front of Arsenal fans’ faces – so to speak – by claiming that Arsene Wenger is prepared to spend £60m on the France international.

The 25-year-old was brilliant at the Euros, scoring six goals in seven appearances and earning two assists. The Atletico Madrid man teams up well with a second striker (coughGiroudcough) and, at a reasonably young age, is a massive prospect as well as a fantastic player.

According to a report by Squawka, Arsene Wenger is ready to spend £60m on the Frenchman, which would break the club’s transfer record, and he’s been ‘secretly pursuing’ him all summer.

The same report does admit that the deal now seems impossible with only a week of the transfer window left. The boss was also apparently banking on Diego Costa rejoining Atletico, in turn potentially sending Antoine to us and Romelu Lukaku from Everton to Chelsea.

Griezmann’s buy-out clause is said to be £86.2m, as he only just signed a new five-year contract with Atletico but Wenger supposedly felt that if he conducted the negotiations fully ‘under the radar’, he could have a chance to sign the star.

Hmmm.