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Arsenal table £25m bid as Wenger looks to sign partner for Koscielny

By on July 13, 2016

According to Calciomercato, Arsenal have stepped up their interest in Juventus defender Daniele Rugani after submitting a £25m bid as Arsene Wenger looks to bring in another defender this summer.

The boss has signed midfielder Granit Xhaka and is desperately trying to land a top class striker but another centre-back is also believed to be high on the Frenchman’s priority list.

Several names have been linked with a move to the Emirates including Napoli star Kalidou Koulibaly but Calciomercato claim that with Everton and Chelsea pushing up his price-tag to around £40m, Wenger has decided to turn his attention to Rugani.

The 21-year-old has been tracked by Arsenal for some time and the Italian news outlet says that we’ve now stepped up our interest by testing Juve’s resolve with a formal £25m offer.

Rugani is one of the most highly-rated defenders in Serie A but he’s struggling to get regular first team football in Turin with Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini all ahead of him in Massimiliano Allegri’s pecking order.

Arsenal should be able to offer the youngster more guaranteed action as we need to find a long-term partner for Koscielny with Mertesacker’s lack of pace still a big problem while Gabriel has failed to take his chance to become a regular.

However, it looks like we’re going to have to dig a little deeper if we want to land Rugani as Calciomercato says Juventus are keen to keep hold of the youngster and have now knocked back our opening offer.

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We’ll have to wait and see whether Arsene will go back in with a second bid but I hope he does as Rugani would be a superb addition to the squad. He has the potential to be one of the best centre-back’s in Europe and could be a superb partner for Koscielny for years to come.