Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is chasing Borussia Dortmund star Mario Goetze. The Daily Mail says Wenger has taken a significant step towards spending a chunk of Arsenal's £50million transfer fund on Goetze.

The Gunners manager dispatched the club's chief scout Steve Rowley to watch the 19-year-old in Dortmund's Champions League win over Olympiakos in Germany on Tuesday night.

The highly-influential Rowley was also joined at the BVB Stadion by another senior Arsenal spy - such is the club's seriousness about signing the player.

Wenger views the Germany international as one of the brightest creative talents in Europe and is willing to smash the club's current transfer record - the £15million paid to Zenit St Petersburg for Andrey Arshavin - to land Goetze.