Arsenal must pary Valencia at least £23m for Juan Mata

Posted Tuesday, June 28, 2011 by The Sun

ARSENAL have been told they must cough up at least £23million to land Valencia star Juan Mata.

The Gunners were lining up an £18m bid with boss Arsene Wenger seemingly ready to embark on his much-talked about summer spending spree.

But the Spanish outfit will hold firm for their most prized asset who signed a new four-year deal in January.

A top Valencia source said: "There are specific clauses in Mata's contract and, unless a club is prepared to match those, there is no chance Mata would leave. The club do not want to sell the player."

Mata last night insisted he had no intention of leaving Valencia.

He said: "I want to win a trophy with Valencia next season. I've not planned anything different as I've a contract until 2015."

SunSport understands if Valencia receive an offer of between £23m and £26.5m they have to either let Mata go or offer him a pay rise to keep hold of him, according to the terms in his contract.

The Spain ace has had interest from Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter over the past year.

Though he would welcome a move to Arsenal, he will not come cheap and Wenger will certainly have to smash the club's transfer record to land the Spain midfielder.

Meanwhile, Karim Benzema - thought to be a possible star-signing to placate frustrated Gunners fans - has insisted he is staying at Real Madrid even if Kun Aguero or Neymar sign for the Spanish giants.

He said: "I never saw myself leaving Real Madrid. I insist. Never. If I was afraid because of another striker coming I'd quit football."

Wenger is also planning a £13.5million raid on Bayer Leverkusen for Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal.