According to German newspaper Express.de, Bayer Leverkusen have rejected a huge bid from Arsenal for defensive midfielder Lars Bender.

The report claims that the Gunners had already tabled one offer for the 24-year-old German international before returning with a second last week in the region of €23m.

Unfortunately, before anyone gets too excited, both have been rejected out of hand by the Bundesliga club who having sold Andre Schurrle to Chelsea for a similar figure, are neither in need of the cash nor particularly willing to see their midfield further weakened.

Bender, whose twin brother Sven plays for Borussia Dortmund, last signed a contract extension at the BayArena in March 2012 and is contracted until 2017.

We really shouldn’t have told everyone we have all this cash burning a whole in our pockets…