Arsenal close to signing Romanian striker Ciprian Marica claims Agent

Arsenal are on the verge of making their second signing of the summer after offering a contract to Romanian international Ciprian Marica, according to the forward’s agent.

The 27-year old Romanian is a free agent following his completion of a two year contract with Bundesliga outfit Schalke and is now on the look out for a new club.

Marica’s agent Giovani Becali also accepted the link and he was quoted by Romanian news source Libertatea saying :

He is close to Arsenal.We’ll see this week.
Marica is a very good striker, a Romanian international and very experienced in western European football.
It is normal that he is targeted by big clubs, all the more so after he has completed his contract with Schalke 04.

For those who haven’t heard of Marica, the 27 year old is a Romanian international striker of some pedigree, having scored 21 goals for his national team in 61 appearances. Marica has so far notched up 68 goals in 330 games in his playing career at club level.

Marica, who has spent the last six years in the Bundesliga following spells with Dinamo Bucuresti and Shakhtar Donetsk, played a largely peripheral role at Schalke last season, making 16 appearances in all competitions and scoring six times.

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Having failed to hold onto a first team role during his four year spell with the 2007 Bundesliga champions, Marica left the club by mutual consent earlier this summer and is now free to negotiate a move to a new club.

Although Arsene Wenger remains in pursuit of Liverpool’s want away front man, it transpires that he’s also been monitoring the progress of Marica following his release from Schalke earlier this summer. While the Gunners appear determined to secure the signature of at least one established name ahead of the new season, the departures of Chamakh and Gervinho may have left Wenger to ponder bringing in another forward with a squad role in mind.

It is also being reported that Marica’s reasonable wage demands may encourage the Gunners to push through a deal. The forward is reportedly looking for a contract worth £1.7 m a year, or approximately £32,000 a week, a relatively modest sum in today’s market.

This might well be one of those rumors created by over smart agents who look to increase interest in their players by dropping name’s of big clubs. But we should also remember that Wenger like’s these kind of players who come on a free transfer and demanding low wages, remember Chamakh?

Even though he might not be a Marquee signing but he can be a good squad player who can fill the slots that will be created by the departing players. What say Gooners?