All summer long Arsenal have been linked with Karim Benzema, but Spanish newspaper AS are saying the Gunners are now making a move for Real Madrid’s Denis Cheryshev.

Who? Well, he’s no Benzema.

Cheryshev, who has also been linked with Liverpool, is a diminutive Russian winger, usually playing on the left. He has seven caps for his country but started his football career in Spain, when Sporting Dijon signed him at the age of six.

By the time he was 12 Cheryshev was on the books at Real Madrid and has spent the last two seasons on loan at Sevilla and Villarreal. Last season the Yellow Submarine offered him his real breakthrough, and he scored seven times in 40 first-team appearances, of which 26 came in La Liga.

He has returned to the Spanish capital and seems to have caught the eye of new manager Rafa Benitez, who has included him for his pre-season trips and used him for the first team.

Now, though, the Spanish press are saying he would be available at the right price. That price seems reasonable, at €21M (just under £15M). With the new television deal that’s mere change for a Premier League club. Or it’s what Manchester United have lost on Angel di Maria after just one season at Old Trafford.

I doubt Cheryshev is actually as good as the difference between Real Madrid’s di Maria and the version fans in Manchester saw last season, but if so he would be a bargain.

But not for Arsenal. Why not? You already know the answers.

Alexis Sánchez, Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Santi Cazorla, Serge Gnabry. Dare I include Alex Iwobi and Jeff Reine-Adelaide?

Arsenal don’t need another winger. Let Liverpool have him.