With Juventus almost certain to be forced into Serie B over the match fixing scandal in Italy, Arsene Wenger is ready to make a formal offer of around £12m for the World Cup winning goalkeeper, states the report.
The Gunners persuaded Thierry Henry to stay at the club and signed Czech Republic midfielder Tomas Rosicky before the World Cup.
Arsenal are also understood to be preparing a £10 million bid for Franck Ribery, according to a report in The Sun. A bid of that amount was registered yesterday according to The Times and The Guardian, but the same sources also said Real Madrid offered £26 million last week.
Gunners captain Thierry Henry heavily criticised Ribery after France's draw in the opening game of their World Cup campaign against Switzerland, yet the Marseille midfielder has apparently turned down a move to French champions Lyon (The Sun), who have bid £20.75 million (Times/Guardian).
However, Matt Scott in The Guardian notes one factor that could work strongly in Arsenal's favour is Frenchman Wenger. He also writes: 'Manchester United may consider further bids dependent on Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer situation'.
Sir Alex Ferguson issued a £9 million verbal offer for Ribery at the start of June, when Marseille said Ribéry was not for sale.
Meanwhile, Thierry Henry reckons that by finishing runners-up in two major tournaments he's proved his doubters wrong at last.
He said: "For the last few years, and particularly at the start of this season, I've been getting so much stick. People had been saying I'm a guy who cannot lead my team somewhere big. But we got to the final of the Champions League and the World Cup with both Arsenal and France, when nobody believed we could.
Both times they thought we were going nowhere and we proved them wrong. I've shown this year I can do it. I've done it in the two most important competitions in the world in the same season. Obviously it feels cruel to lose both finals though."