Arsenal Sporting Director Andrea Berta is reportedly ‘keeping tabs’ on Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, who could leave on a free this summer.
The Gunners are currently in talks with Sporting CP over a deal to sign Viktor Gyokeres as the striker wants to come to the Emirates, and Arsenal are in desperate need of a new number nine. Gyokeres was superb last season, scoring 54 goals in 52 games for the Portuguese side.
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However, it has been suggested that Sporting are being very demanding with their transfer fee, and with Arsenal wanting to pay around £60m in total, the Portuguese club want a figure more like £70m. This means that the negotiations have stalled, and there is a chance that the deal to sign the Swedish international could fall through.
If that is the case, Arsenal need to identify some alternative targets that they could go after, to make sure that they head into the first game of the season against Manchester United with a new number nine, capable of scoring consistently.
Berta ‘keeping tabs’ on Vlahovic
One name that Arsenal have been linked with in the past is Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, who is set to leave the Serie A giants this summer as they want him off their wage bill.
According to the Sun, Juventus are prepared to rip up Vlahovic’s contract and let him leave on a free transfer in order to get him off the books. His current salary works out at £323,561 per week, a yearly wage of £16.8m.
The report adds that Arsenal and Man United are amongst a group of Premier League clubs set to hold meetings about Vlahovic and Juventus, and that Arsenal Sporting Director Berta is ‘keeping tabs’ on the situation.
It may be that the Serbian could become Arsenal’s alternative if the Gyokeres deal falls through. In his career, Vlahovic has had a lot of goal-scoring success, netting 130 career goals in 302 games.