Dusan Vlahovic: Juventus in talks to sign Fiorentina striker with Arsenal and Spurs offers not considered | Football News
Juventus are in talks to sign Fiorentina striker Dusan Vlahovic, with the Serb’s agents not considering any offers from Arsenal and Tottenham, according to Sky in Italy.
Juve are in negotiations to satisfy Fiorentina’s £58.8m asking price for Vlahovic, who is wanted by both north London clubs.
Fiorentina want to sell the 21-year-old Serbia international this month to maximise their profit, as he has just 18 months remaining on his contract.
Juve are now willing to allocate more funds to their original January spending budget in order to beat Arsenal and Spurs in the race for Vlahovic.
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Football agent Roberto De Fanti talks about how good Vlahovic is after the Fiorentina striker was linked with a transfer this window, and what he would do if he was his agent
A report in Italian newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport on Monday evening claimed Juventus have reached an agreement with Vlahovic’s agents over a five-year deal, as they get set to make an official £50.4m bid to La Viola.
Fiorentina’s sporting director, Daniele Prade, told Sportitalia: “It’s an important valuation, over €70m as a lump sum with no swap deals and no payment structures. The president [Rocco Commisso] has imposed it on us.
“All of our doors are open in this situation, because we need to understand what the players and his agents really want to do.
“We received some important offers for him. Offers that were very substantial but we never got any feedback from his agents. On our side, there has always been great transparency. I refer to what Joe Barone [Fiorentina’s chief executive] said, all our doors are open.
“We’re ready to sit down at a table and talk. We made various important offers for a contract extension, and we also have had a few offers to sell him in a strong way.
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The Transfer Show’s Dharmesh Sheth reports that Fiorentina are open to selling Vlahovic in the January transfer window
“I’m saying this because our club makes €75m a year and we can’t afford to lose a valuable asset for free.
“They were all valid and satisfactory offers, with payment methods that suited us. We couldn’t go ahead with the deal because there was never any contact with the player’s agents.”
Vlahovic came to prominence last season when he scored 21 goals in 40 appearances for Fiorentina, and has continued his impressive form with 20 goals in 24 games in all competitions this campaign.
How interested are Arsenal, Spurs in Vlahovic?
Arsenal retain a strong interest in Vlahovic but are finding it difficult to complete a deal this month due to the size of the transfer fee needed to sign the striker.
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Sky Sports’ Nick Wright takes an in-depth look at Vlahovic’s statistics and where he ranks amongst Europe’s top strikers
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted there is a “cloud” hanging over Arsenal’s forward options, with former captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang dropped for disciplinary reasons and Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah into the final six months of their contracts.
Arteta has said the Gunners are working hard on new arrivals and that they “are open” to making a big signing if it is financially viable.
Meanwhile, Sky Sports News reported in August that Tottenham were interested in signing Vlahovic.
Italian sources also say Vlahovic’s preference is to join a side competing in the Champions League.
Arsenal have not qualified for the competition for the past four seasons, while Spurs have not played in the competition since the 2019/20 season. Both clubs are currently two points off the top four.
Vlahovic joined Fiorentina from Partizan Belgrade in 2018. As well as making an impression in Italy, the striker also has seven goals in 14 games for Serbia.
Vlahovic: Haaland’s ‘twin’ who is destined for PL
“I am the Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Belgrade, I will play for the biggest clubs.”
Valeri Bojinov was leading the line for Partizan as he witnessed a pimply 15-year-old become the club’s youngest-ever player, goalscorer and debutant in Belgrade’s Eternal derby against Red Star.
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With Vlahovic being linked with a move to Arsenal, we take a look back at some of his goals for Serbia
Week after week, Vlahovic repeated his aspirations to Bojinov. It wasn’t long until the former Manchester City striker urged then-Fiorentina sporting director Italo Corvino to fork out £1.7m for his young understudy.
“He was crazy, really crazy,” Bojinov said. “But I liked his arrogance. I thought he would become a strong player.”
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