No sooner had it been reported that Arsenal were going to smash their wage structure to keep Alexis Sanchez, were Don Balon reporting the club were offering Karim Benzema £300kpw to leave Real Madrid and come to London.

• Benzema fed up at criticism he gets
• Arsenal linked with forward for years
• Wenger no plans to break Arsenal’s wage structure

Karim Benzema, they say, is fed up with the criticism he gets at Real Madrid because of his style of play and is tempted by the thought of doubling his wages at Arsenal. No wonder, I would be too if I was a footballer turning 30 next season.

In the next breath, the Express say in their version of Don Balon’s piece, that Benzema is not even looking to leave the Bernabeu.

Speaking at his press conference on Friday, Arsene Wenger gave a very clear indication that the club weren’t in any rush to start just giving players whatever the hell they wanted, no matter what stories were appearing in the papers.

“We must accept that modern life has changed a little bit,” Wenger said.

“We always had wages structures that were respected and players earn so much money now that the cases have become much more individual than global.

“You have many different opinions there. Some people tell me ‘just give him what he wants’. But then you cannot respect anymore any wages structure and you put the club in trouble as well.

“That is why you have to make the decision in an objective way.

“Always the club has to be the priority.

“I understand as well that top players are a big priority but at the end of the day even for important players you can only pay as much as you can afford.

Arsenal have been linked with Benzema for years now and they aren’t ever going to sign him.