According to recent reports, Karim Benzema’s time at Real Madrid is coming to an end.

The 29-year-old striker has been heavily linked with a Premier League move in recent seasons and Arsenal were frontrunners for the Frenchman’s signature last summer.

A deal failed to materialise and the Lyon-born frontman has since netted 17 and created eight assists (all competitions) for Zinedine Zidane’s side this term.

However, suggestions have been made that he is surplus to requirements at the Bernabeú and senior members within the club prefer Álvaro Morata to him – a player who is much younger and seen as more hungry for regular minutes.

This was something I eluded to during a previous post last week, and although it’s unlikely that Arsenal will splash £50m on Benzema this summer, a possible move could still be done if a reasonable transfer fee can be negotiated.

Reports have suggested that Benzema is understandably tentative about what the future holds for him in Madrid and wants an extension beyond his current deal, which expires in the summer of 2019.

However, he already earns a weekly wage packet of £150,000-a-week and it’s likely Real Madrid will accept reasonable offers.

£50m is a lot of money to spend on one player, even given the level of transfer fee inflation in recent seasons. If Arsenal were going to break their club record fee for him, they probably would’ve done it two or three years ago.

At 29, he is a quality striker but one that continues to divide opinion on whether he’s truly among the world-class bracket of forwards in Europe’s top leagues.

Arsenal need to make some significant moves in this summer window if they are to silence critics after another underwhelming season.

It’s likely though, they’ll focus on other attacking targets given Benzema’s situation – unless the fee itself is dropped considerably.