On Wednesday, another report that Real Madrid had agreed to sell Karim Benzema to Arsenal did the rounds, and here's how Los Blancos in fact benefit from such rumours.
Read: Kaka On Benzema's Move To Arsenal
TalkSPORT's Rodney Marsh stated Real "accepted a £48 million" bid for the Frenchman, as he had been told by a "mate" of his, who got "a lot of deals right" in the past.
That's one of the dodgiest stories we have seen, so we dug a bit deeper to find a reasonable explanation as to why Real don't just shut down the Benzema rumours.
James Olley of the London Evening Standard summarised the situation perfectly and explains why Real end up looking stronger if Benzema stays when he never wanted to leave anyway.
He writes:
"Arsene Wenger is keen on bringing the 27-year-old to Emirates Stadium and was initially encouraged when Rafael Benitez took charge at the Bernabeu due to his interest in playing Cristiano Ronaldo as a central striker.
"That would have left Benzema fighting for a place in the team and it appeared at that stage Arsenal could have pulled off a major transfer coup by offering the France international an escape route to the Premier League.
"However, Standard Sport understands that Real president Florentino Perez is a huge admirer of Benzema and has made it clear that he wants the striker to stay at the club, having only last summer signed a contract extension running to 2019.
"In a similar way to stories linking Sergio Ramos to Manchester United, Real have allowed the Benzema to Arsenal rumours to circulate in the belief that the player has no desire to leave and so keeping him at the club would constitute a show of strength to their rivals."
Read: Reports: Ramos Becomes Third-Highest Paid Real Player
Do you think Real will sell Benzema to Arsenal this summer? Have your say in the comments section below.
