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Arsenal table bid to sign 23-year-old star as Arteta looks to land key signing

By on June 25, 2021

According to reports via the Daily Star, Arsenal have submitted an offer for Manuel Locatelli as Mikel Arteta looks to strengthen his midfield this summer.

The boss is being tipped to overhaul his squad over the coming weeks and central midfield is going to be significantly revamped with a number of incoming and outgoings expected in that department.

Granit Xhaka is set for a move to Italy, Dani Ceballos and Martin Odegaard have returned to Real Madrid while the likes of Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock are also likely to find new clubs.

Therefore, Arsenal are going to need to bring in a couple of midfielders and Locatelli has been touted as a target in the media in recent weeks having caught the eye at Sassuolo.

The 23-year-old was one of their best players last season and his form earned him a place in the Italy squad for Euro 2020 where he’s been one of the stars of the tournament so far having starred in the group stages.

Locatelli is now one of the most sought after players around with the Daily Star citing a report from the print version of Gazzetta dello Sport that says Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Man City, PSG and Juventus are all showing a keen interest.

It appears we’ve tried to steal a march on our rivals as the Italian publication claims that Arsenal have joined Dortmund in tabling an ‘important’ offer for Locatelli – although they don’t give any details of the supposed proposal.

Juve in pole

Juventus have also reportedly made their first move as Gazzetta dello Sport says the Old Lady are trying to sign Locatelli on an initial two year loan and are prepared to use Radu Dragusin, Nicolò Fagioli or Felix Correia as bait to sweeten the deal.

However, the report says Sassuolo favour a cash sale if they’re to sell the midfielder this summer with the Serie A outfit valuing Locatelli at around £34m – which I actually think sounds cheap considering how he’s performed at the Euro’s so far.

Arsenal should also be able to pay that kind of money as long as we get decent fees for the likes of Xhaka, Torreira, Guendouzi, Willock, etc, but I still think we’ll find it difficult to win the race for his signature.

We don’t have any form of European football to offer Locatelli and rumours suggest he wants to remain in Italy – with Juventus the most likely to sign him this summer.

I’m glad to see Arsenal going for top class players like Locatelli and would love to see him come to the Emirates, but I fear we’ll end up signing an alternative target in the end.