The ongoing saga surrounding Arsenal's interest in German World Cup star Sami Khedira seems to have been dealt its final blow as Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has announced the midfielder will be staying at the Spanish club.
Arsene Wenger had been in pursuit of the German midfielder for the best part of the summer and for a large part of the transfer window Arsenal looked set to seal the deal.
The FA Cup holders had hoped to complete a deal before the end of the transfer window, with the German's speculated £200,000 a week wages being somewhat of a stumbling block for shrewd spending Wenger.
Although Khedira hadn't spoken of any desires to leave the Bernabeu this summer, there were wide scaled reports that the German had turned down a contract renewal with the La Liga giants earlier this month, thus sparking the rumours of his potential departure.
However since the interest of fellow Londoners Chelsea was revealed, a deal to bring the German to North-London seemed to have hit a stumbling block, with Khedira buying himself some time to make a decision regarding his future.
Khedira has just one year remaining on his contract and many reports suggest he could link up with his former manager Jose Mourinho at Chelsea when his contract expires next year.
It was widely expected that Arsenals summer spending would be near an end following the signings of Alexis Sanchez, Mathieu Debuchy, Calum Chambers and David Ospina but with the recent injury to last weekends equalising goalscorer Olivier Giroud, it is expected Arsenal will re-enter the transfer market.
Arsene Wenger told a Sky Sports reporter in his pre-match interview before the club take on Besiktas in their Champions League second-leg qualifier tomorrow evening that he would not "categorically rule out" any pursuits for a replacement striker.
Khedira didn't start in Madrid's 2-0 opening day victory over Cordoba last night, but did feature late on in the game when he came off the bench to replace goalscorer Karim Benzema, which received a mixed response from the home fans, with whistles being heard throughout The Bernabeu.
“The issue with Khedira has also been resolved. He’s staying and we’re happy that’s the case.”
-Carlo Ancelotti
The announcement will be a relief for Carlo Ancelotti, who has since seen his side say their goodbyes to the departing Angel Di Maria who looks set to complete his British record transfer move to Manchester United in the near future.
With Real Madrid already adding to their increasingly talented squad of players in the form of Colombian World Cup star James Rodriguez, Sami Khedira appears to have made his decision to stay at the club and rival fellow compatriot and World Cup Winner Toni Kroos for his place in the side.