Arsenal look set to return to the drawing board as transfer target Dusan Vlahovic nears a move to Juventus.
The Italian giants are reported to have agreed a €75m (£62.8m) deal with Fiorentina to take the Serbian striker to Turin.
Vlahovic’s contract ends in 2023 and he has rejected the offer to become the highest paid player at the club to move to a Champions League side on a rumoured £160,000 per week.
It comes as a blow to Mikel Arteta, who said earlier this month: “The history of this club [Arsenal] has always been targeting the best players in the world and the best players in the world were always interested to come here and I can say that situation hasn’t changed.”
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Arsenal’s striker crisis
Arsenal have been on the lookout for a new forward since Arteta stripped Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of the captaincy due to disciplinary reasons.
The 32-year-old has not played since his substitute appearance in the 2-1 defeat to Everton in December.
Aubameyang had looked like the solution to filling the long-term hole left by Robin van Persie, scoring 22 Premier League goals in each of his first two seasons at the club (2018-19 and 2019-20), but his form has tailed off more recently. He only netted 10 goals last year before this disappointing campaign in which he has scored just four times.
With Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah’s contracts both expiring this summer, Arsenal face something of a striker crisis.
Vlahovic is not yet the finished article but he offers a combination of Aubameyang and Lacazette’s skillsets and would have fitted in well with Arsenal’s new youth project.
The 21-year-old is joint top scorer in Italy, with 17 goals in 21 matches this season, and equalled Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of most Serie A goals in a calendar year in 2021 (33).
Who could Arsenal sign instead?
If Vlahovic does join Juventus then his Serbia teammate Luka Jovic could enter Arsenal’s thinking with a loan move thought to be a possibility..
Before his move to Real Madrid, Jovic scored 27 goals during the 2018-19 season for Eintracht Frankfurt and was viewed as one of the hottest properties in European football. But he failed to replicate that form in the Spanish capital and on his subsequent return to the German club on loan.
Nevertheless, the 24-year-old could benefit Arsenal with his instinctiveness in front of goal, ability to finish with left, right or head and his undoubted potential.
Jovic could be keen on the move as he has only played 432 minutes this season and recently blamed “limited playing time” on his poor performances. Martin Odegaard’s success on loan from Real Madrid could also convince all parties this is a move worth making.
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The Swede made headlines when he signed for Borussia Dortmund from Swedish side AIK in the at the age of 17 and has since been a reliable scorer after moving to La Liga in 2019.
Despite his young age he has scored eight goals in 31 international caps, his most notable performance coming at Euro 2020 when he received the man of the match award in a 1-0 win over Slovakia.
Arsenal would benefit from his positional awareness and ability to drift out wide, using his quick feet to weave past defenders. The striker would create space for the likes of Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli, who have proven themselves to be goal threats this season.
Isak also said last year that “it would be nice to play in England”.
Should moves for Jovic and Isak fail to materialise then Arsenal have also been linked with Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Arsenal would be willing to part with £60m for the England forward’s services, according to The Athletic, although Everton are unlikely to want to sell their star player in the midst of a relegation battle.
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