Things are hotting up with ins and outs, as Arsenal have thrown in Lucas Torriera into the Dusan Vlahovic equation – with a bid valued at £58.5m (£46m cash), according to Gazzetta dello Sport.
Dusan Vlahovic – said to favour a move to Juventus
That is £6.5m behind Fiorentina’s stated position of letting the forward leave mid-season. The Florence club is said to be considering the offer.
Vlahovic said he wanted to stay at Fiorentina for the remainder of the season, though admitted things could change quickly.
He told Politika: “Only God knows what will happen in the next period. My wish is to bring Fiorentina to Europe because we have not been in Europe for a long time. I don’t know what can happen overnight. We’ll see.”
The Mirror points to a report from El Nacional saying Arsenal have won the race for Alexander Isak, currently with Real Sociedad, claiming a move to Barcelona has been blocked. Isak has scored 38 times for the Spanish side in 101 games since he arrived from Borussia Dortmund in 2019.
Real bought out Borussia Dortmund’s £30m buy-back clause last summer after allowing Isak to leave in 2019. AS said that his new release clause is around £86m. Transfermarkt value him at around £65m.
Alexander Isak: move to Barcelona blocked
Meanwhile blockages to any Pierre Emerick Aubameyang deal are reported in several papers, not least a medical while at the Afcon and a ‘lower valuation’ due to disciplinary issues.
And pundits such as Tony Cascarino and Kevin Phillips in the Newcastle Chronicle are warning Newcastle, the Gabonese forward would be a risk, based on form over the last year.
Bayer Leverkusen are urging Eddie Nketiah to sign a pre-contract agreement and join on a free in the summer, although Brighton and Crystal Palace are in the hunt – and Arsenal would prefer a sale rather than a free.
Roma have put an offer in for Ainsley Maitland Niles for a loan with an option to buy – which Arsenal are said to have agreed to. It is said to add £850,000 to the transfer budget.
And besides Aubameyang, Arsenal are open to offers for Pablo Mari, Calum Chambers and Sead Kolasinac.
A new name to appear today is Georginio Wijnaldum, who according to FourFourTwo hasn’t settled in Paris (PSG) and would be a loan option for Arsenal.
And reading between the lines, according to Stan Collymore (Birmingham Post) would be a better deal than Villa’s Douglas Luiz, who he says is dreadful. Maybe he is being played out of position.
Meanwhile Mikel Arteta is due to return to training and the dugout for the Carabao Cup game against Liverpool on Thursday.
And Arsenal have cut Nikolaj Moller’s loan spell in Germany short, with the teenage striker returning to Colney from German club Viktoria Koln.
And defender Harry Clarke is signing a loan deal with Hibs for the rest of the season with an option to buy.