Premier League: Arsene Wenger promises not to make panic buys

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said he will not make any panic buys during the final days of the transfer window which closes on Monday. Striker Yaya Sanogo, aged 20, and midfielder Mathieu Flamini, aged 29, are the only signings Arsenal have made this summer, both on free transfers. About the recent signing of Flamini, Wenger said: "At the start, I did not want to sign him. The circumstances, and his attitude, convinced me to do it. I did not expect him to be in that mental state or physical shape." "We will not panic buy, that is for sure. It is not my strength to panic," Wenger said. But there is a lot of pressure on the manager, both due to injuries to first team players and also given that in June Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis said the club was ready to spend big sums of money on new players. Since that statement Arsenal have had two offers for Liverpool striker Luis Suarez rejected, seen their £10m bid for Newcastle midfielder Yohan Cabaye turned down and been linked with moves for strikers Wayne Rooney of Manchester United and Gonzalo Higuain, who moved from Real Madrid to Napoli. Arsenal are understood to be interested in Real Madrids Angel Di Maria and Karim Benzema but no official bids were made up to this point. Wenger will have to deal with lengthy injuries to striker Lukas Podolski, defender Thomas Vermaelen, midfielders Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mikel Arteta. "The players we have here know how we want to play the game, and that is important," the French manager said. "If we can add players who can integrate that style of play, we will do it. We will not do anything stupid, for the sake of saying we have done something. We do what makes sense, that is simple." Arsenal are 5/4 to sign Angel Di Maria at SkyBet while the odds for Karim Benzema to leave Real Madrid before Monday are at 7/2.