Rodney Marsh claims Arsenal have transfer bid accepted for Real Madrid Karim Benzema

Former Sky Sports pundit Rodney Marsh has claimed that Real Madrid have accepted a bid from Arsenal for striker Karim Benzema. The French international has been heavily linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium, with Metro reporting that £45m ($70.5m) is the mooted figure to secure the player's services.

Whilst Marsh does not reference a figure, he made the initial claim on American radio station SiriusXM FC, before doing the same thing on Twitter when replying to a fan. He also promised there was 'more to follow'.

Marsh currently lives in Tampa, Florida, and it's difficult to see how the 70-year-old former I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here contestant could have sources well-placed in Madrid to provide him with such information.

Indeed, Los Blancos boss Rafa Benitez only recently spoke about his desire to keep Benzema this season and his predictions regarding the player netting "20-25 goals" throughout the campaign.

That all adds up to suggest a move is unlikely, irrespective of Marsh's comments and the fact that club legend Charlie Nicholas believes the former Lyon hitman is the ideal summer signing for the Gunners.

The former QPR and Manchester City forward won nine caps for England during his playing career but has not been seen in a serious capacity on British television since losing his job at Sky Sports in 2005 after making jokes about the Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed 280,000 people.