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Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has a crisis with his forwards after stand-in Nicklas Bendtner sprained an ankle scoring in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Cardiff.

He will be out for at least six weeks and first-choice Olivier Giroud is also missing due to an ankle injury.

Costa, 25, has a £32m buyout clause in his Atletico Madrid contract and it would be a huge investment for the north Londoners following the £42.5m purchase of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid in the summer.

Brazil-born striker Costa – who last year declared he wants to play for Spain – has scored a staggering 19 goals in just 17 La Liga appearances this season.

Starsport understands Chelsea are also keen on Costa, and were planning to make their move in the summer.

Blues boss Jose Mourinho maintains he will not sign a striker during this transfer window.

Meanwhile, former Blues star Salomon Kalou has let the Gunners know he wants to come back to the Premier League.

The Ivorian, who can play as a striker or winger, has been at Lille for the last two seasons and has a £2.5m buy-out clause.

Last season the 28-year-old scored 14 league goals in 28 appearances and has three in 10 this campaign.

But now he wants a return to England, with Tottenham and Liverpool also keen.