In one of the stranger transfer stories you might read this week, Real Madrid are reportedly desperate to sign Neymar and are going to use Arsenal to do it.

According to Spanish outlet Don Balon, Real Madrid are planning to bid a world record £223m for Neymar, who only signed for Paris Saint-Germain this summer.

However, to come up with this massive sum, Florentino Perez will obviously have to offload some bodies first. Namely, Karim Benzema, who’s been linked with a move to Arsenal for about five years.

Transfermarkt values the 29-year-old at £54m, so this will be a decent chunk towards Los Blancos’ Neymar fund.

They’re also allegedly planning to sell Gareth Bale and defender Raphael Varane to Manchester United for £89m and £31m.

Neymar’s move from Barcelona to Paris made headlines around the world as the 25-year-old became the most expensive football player in history. Since signing for the Ligue 1 giants, the forward has scored 15 goals and assisted 11 in 17 appearances.

I highly doubt PSG – a club that paid £200m for one player – will give the Brazilian up so soon in order to make a measly £23m profit.

Neymar still has until June 2022 on his contract. Such a quick departure would seem very odd indeed.

Benzema to Arsenal, however, does seem slightly more likely. The Frenchman has made eight La Liga starts this term, scored twice and provided two assists.