Arsene Wenger Hits �45m Panic Button

ARSENE WENGER was panicking last night as he tried to splash �45MILLION on new players. The under-fire Arsenal chief, boasting an �80m transfer war chest, landed �9m Germany defender Per Mertesacker and �2m South Korea striker Chu-Young Park yesterday. But a �22m bid for Rennes holding midfielder Yann M'Vila was snubbed and there was no movement on a �12m offer for winger Marvin Martin from Sochaux. Wenger, who has an astonishing list of 20 targets, also made a double enquiry for Everton duo Marouane Fellaini and Mikel Arteta. He had already done a �6.2m deal to bring Brazilian left-back Andre Santos to the Emirates from Fenerbahce. Wenger will be relieved to have secured 6ft 6in Mertesacker, 26. The 75-cap centre-back from Werder Bremen had a medical last night and will sign a four-year contract worth �80,000 a week. Wenger would like Blackburn's Christopher Samba alongside him, though not at the �16m quoted. Chelsea pair Alex and Florent Malouda are on the wanted list as well. But a creative midfielder to replace Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas is the priority, with Hamburg's �8m Dutch star Eljero Elia already lost to Juventus and Lille's Eden Hazard rated too costly at �37m.