Italian media continue to link Premier League leaders Arsenal with Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, a year on from the Serbian snubbing Mikel Arteta’s side.
Arsenal finished fifth in the Premier League last term with many fans believing their failure to replace Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang last winter was the reason they missed out on the Champions League places.
It did seem like Arteta put all of his eggs in the Vlahovic basket, losing out to Juventus, who paid around £75million to buy him from Fiorentina.
While Arteta utilised Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah, the big Serbian striker was banging them in for Max Allegri, netting seven Serie A goals in the second half of the 2021-22 season.
Vlahovic has not had a great time in Turin having missed a large chunk of this term through injury.
Juventus are actually performing better without the former Fiorentina talisman, meaning they are reportedly not against the idea of flogging him either this month or in the summer transfer window.
Italian outlet Calciomercato continue to claim Arsenal are interested in signing Vlahovic, a year on from the player blatantly turning them down for Juve.
After weeks of the Gunners, Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea being linked with the 22-year-old, the Old Lady have apparently told clubs to cough up ‘no less than €115-120million’.
As well as those four Premier League sides, it is said that Paris Saint-Germain are also keen, with Kylian Mbappe wanting to play alongside a target man as he does with Olivier Giroud for France.
I think it is abundantly clear that Arteta is no longer interested in bringing Vlahovic to the Emirates.
A year ago the Serbian was not interested whatsoever in joining, while Arsenal obviously were, and while he is probably more tempted now with the Gunners flying this season, there is no chance Edu pursues this transfer.
Arteta filled the void left by Aubameyang – and then Lacazette – last summer by signing Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City.
Jesus has been absolutely brilliant this season and is destined to lead the line for Arsenal for a few years at the very least.
Nketiah penned a new long-term contract to compete with the Brazilian and is filling in for him admirably as he recovers from a long-term knee injury.
Jesus may be out until mid-February at the earliest, but Arteta is not going to panic and pay top dollar for another striker.
Arsenal need more depth on the flanks and are prioritising the signing of Shakhtar Donetsk’s Mykhaylo Mudryk, who is very interested in joining the London club.
With Mudryk becoming another option alongside Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka, the former could then become more of an option through the middle, providing that extra depth the fans crave.
The vast majority, if not all of, Arsenal’s winter transfer budget will go on Mudryk if they finally agree a fee with Shakhtar, and even if a deal falls through it is hard to imagine Vlahovic being bought for around £100m.
Should Arsenal add further to their squad, it will likely be a new central midfielder with Thomas Partey suspect to the occasional injury.
The Ghanaian’s fitness has held up so far this term, but the Gunners are a much worse team without him, with all due respect to his back-up Mohamed Elneny.
Arsenal hit with second FA charge in less than a week for failing to control players
Arsenal have been hit with a Football Association (FA) charge of failing to control their players for the second time in less than a week.
The Gunners have until Monday (January 16) to respond to the latest charge from the FA, which relates to their FA Cup third-round tie at League One side Oxford on Monday night.
It is alleged that Arsenal “failed to ensure its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion” in the 34th minute of the game at the Kassam Stadium, when, with the scoreline still to be breached, they surrounded referee David Coote and appealed in vain for a penalty for handball after Albert Sambi Lokonga’s shot had struck Josh Murphy inside the box.
Mikel Arteta’s side went on to win the match 3-0 after Mohamed Elneny’s goal and a second-half brace from in-form striker Eddie Nketiah, sealing a huge fourth-round showdown with Premier League title rivals Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium later this month.
It is the second such accusation to be levelled at Arsenal in a matter of days. Last week, they were charged with the same breach of FA Rule E20.1 following a tempestuous goalless top-flight draw with fellow high-flyers Newcastle at Emirates Stadium.
That charge also concerned penalty appeals, with several home players remonstrating with referee Andrew Madley after he twice waved away claims deep into second-half stoppage time, including a handball shout against Jacob Murphy.
Arsenal were given until Tuesday (January 10) to respond to that initial charge.
SOURCE: football365.com, standard.co.uk
