Arsenal aiming to repeat the Ozil trick with January La Liga striker raid

The deadline day signing of Real Madrid’s Mesut Ozil for £42.5m sent grown Gooners into teary-eyed raptures, as well announcing Arsenal as genuine Premier League title challengers once more.

For their next trick they could swoop for Atletico Madrid’s Diego Costa in January, for what is understood to be a fee in the region of £32m.

Olivier Giroud has led the Gunners’ line virtually single-handedly this term and he’s 2/1 to register against Chelsea.

However after scoring four times in his first five games he’s found the net just twice in his last 12 outings as fatigue begins to blunt his instincts and the search for someone to share the scoring burden is on.

According to goal.com a scouting delegation from the Emirates will travel to Spain in order to take in two of Los Colchoneros’ upcoming fixtures with Spazilian striker Costa the object of inspection.

Costa may have been playing in the shadow of Monaco’s former Atleti superpower Radamel Falcao last term but it didn’t stop him from notching 20 goals in 44 starts.

His 2012/13 efforts were enough to see him seriously linked to with a move to Liverpool in the summer, yet his form this term has comprehensively eclipsed even those bold showings.

He’s currently keeping step with the supernatural goalscoring talent of Cristiano Ronaldo on 17 goals in La Liga, despite taking less than half as many shots as the Real Madrid man.

The Champions League has come similarly easily to the naturalised Brazilian, who notched four goals in three starts as Atletico breezed through the groups.

Yet despite his Ronaldo-rivalling scoring feats it’s understood that he could be available for £32m due to a release clause inserted in his contract when he signed a new deal back in August.

Costa’s wages at Vicente Calderon are not thought to be remotely close to the remuneration expected by a superstar of the modern game and the prospect of greater riches may be enough to lure him to north London.