Arsenal place stumbling block in Serie A deal, as transfer hopes raised
Arsenal remain determined to land Manuel Locatelli and are working hard behind the scenes to get their hands on the Italy star, claims a report.
The Gunners though have stiff competition for the Sassuolo midfielder in the form of Juventus. But so for it far they are doing all they can to make sure the Old Lady do not get their hands on the Euro 2020 star.
Mikel Arteta’s interest in Locatelli has been confirmed. Earlier this month Sassuolo director Giovanni Carnevali confirmed Arsenal had made an offer for the player.
“Arsenal have made an official bid for Locatelli. They’re pushing hard to sign Manuel and it’s an important bid… we will see,” Carnevali said, via the Mirror.
“Juventus also want Locatelli and we have a special relationship with them. A new meeting has been scheduled with Juve.
It turns out that the offer is a better one than Juve have put on the table so far.
According to Calciomercato via Sport Witness, Juve are struggling to find an agreement with their Italian rivals “thanks to a superior offer from Arsenal”.
The outlet claim the first meeting between the two Serie A sides was “not successful”.
Juve were keen to take the player on a two-year loan deal with the “conditional redemption” option at the end of that loan.
They also proposed an alternative of buying the Italy international for €30m, but Carnevali has refused that option.
Spurred on by Arsenal’s tempting offer Sassuolo are sticking to their €40m asking price. While if it’s a loan deal they want a “guaranteed redemption obligation” in addition to a loan fee.
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Arsenal hope for Locatelli
Whether or not Arsenal’s offer is quite at the €40m mark is unclear. But respected journalist Fabrizio Romano claims that the Gunners are prepared to go to the asking price for the impressive star.
However, they will only sign players that are happy and 100% committed to moving to The Emirates.
Juve on the other hand have apparently cooled their interest, per Calciomercato, after failing to find common ground with Sassuolo.
Locatelli has already given his approval to join Juve, but if Juve cannot move the deal forward soon they will look elsewhere.
That could leave Arsenal with a chance of signing the player, but they will need to work hard to convince him to switch from Turin to London.
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