Arsenal bid £2m for Iranian Lionel Messi, Sardar Azmoun

Gunners also eye up South Korean striker Heung-Min Son as Liverpool go for Ashley Cole

Sardar Azmoun

DESPERATE times call for desperate measures and Arsenal are hunting far and wide for the players who can transform Arsene Wenger's broken band of also-rans into genuine title contenders.

Where better to start than with Lionel Messi? Not the original you understand, Wenger is far too frugal for that. Instead, according to Metro, he has identified the Iranian version, Sardar Azmoun, as his man for the future.

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Bill Mann is a football correspondent for The Week.co.uk, scouring the world's football press daily for the popular Transfer Talk column.