Gunners look to Benayoun as Arteta deal collapses

Arsenal tonight turned their sights on Yossi Benayoun after failing in a bid to sign Mikel Arteta hours before the transfer deadline.

The Gunners had an offer rejected for Arteta, with reports suggesting Everton had turned down a cash-plus-player deal.

That left Arsenal in a race against time to tie up what is understood to be a loan move for Chelsea’s Benayoun as they looked to bolster a midfield recently shorn of both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.

It has been suggested the Arteta deal collapsed after Arsenal offered Nicklas Bendtner in part exchange, with Everton demanding a £10m cash.

Benayoun is surplus to requirements at Chelsea and would doubtless be keen to join a fellow Champions League club.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger earlier began to rebuild his shattered defence after it was confirmed Per Mertesacker and Andre Santos were joining the club, the former subject to a formal registration process.

Wenger will hope the pair will help Arsenal avoid a repeat of Sunday’s 8-2 humiliation at Manchester United, with both experienced internationals.

Germany defender Mertesacker, who has 75 caps and joins from Werder Bremen for a reported £8million, was relishing the challenge.

The 26-year-old told the German club’s official website, www.werder.de: “The move to London is a wish come true, to take another step in my career.

“The English Premier League has for me always represented an interesting challenge.”

Mertesacker played a total of 147 games for Bremen, winning the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) and reaching the final of the Europa League in 2009.

Santos, 28, cost Arsenal £6.2m from Turkish champions Fenerbahce.

The Brazil full-back, who missed out on last year’s World Cup, told his new club’s official website, www.arsenal.com: “It was one of my dreams to play for a major European football club and I have accomplished this. I am very happy to be part of this team.

“All the Brazilians who came to this club spoke wonders about it and I am delighted to be part of the Arsenal family.”

Wenger added: “Santos is a quality player, with the ability to both defend well and get forward and help with attacks.

“He has experience in the Champions League and for Brazil and has proven he can deliver at the highest level.

“We welcome Santos to the club and look forward to him having a big impact for us.”

Wenger has been busy in the final days of the transfer window, having brought in South Korea captain Park Chu-young from Monaco.

As well as Arteta, Arsenal have been linked with a host of midfielders in recent days, including the Spaniard’s Everton team-mate Marouane Fellaini, Eden Hazard of Lille, CSKA Moscow’s Japan international playmaker Keisuke Honda and Yann M’Vila at Rennes.

A move for Blackburn defender Christopher Samba has also been touted, with the Gunners having cooled their interest in Bolton’s Gary Cahill.

Out-of-favour striker Bendtner was being linked with several clubs tonight as he sought an exit from the Emirates.

Arsenal new boy Joel Campbell had no such problems, being sent out on a season-long loan to Ligue 1 outfit Lorient, while fellow youngster Gilles Sunu joined the French club permanently, having spent the end of last term on loan there.