It seems Arsenal are either waiting for the right deal to come around, or simply don’t have any luck when it comes to the summer transfer window.
Reports from Italy are stating the Gunners have had a large bid, believed to be in the region of €30m turned down for Juventus defender Daniele Rugani.
Recent events at the Serie A club sparked rumours that the 21-year-old could be set to leave, after Massimiliano Allegri captured the loan signing of Medhi Benatia.
He will join a long list of top class defenders to stand in the way of Rugani making a breakthrough into the first team, and Premier League clubs were soon to jump on the youngster.
The Italian was being eyed up by both Arsenal and Everton, with the Toffees looking to replace the Manchester City-bound Jon Stones before the new campaign gets underway.
However, in a desperate attempt to ensure they didn’t miss out on another summer signing, Arsene Wenger reportedly drew up a lucrative offer that equates to around £25million.
But news has broken from Calcio Mercato today suggesting the Serie A champions aren’t interested in letting go of the highly rated man they signed back in 2015 from Empoli.
He’s gone on to make 17 appearances for the first team, and despite the chance to make a profit on the centre back, it seems Juventus are in no rush to let their rising star exit.
At such a young age you’d be forgiven to think Rugani lacked experience, but having played in and amongst a title-winning side the maturity he shows both on and off the pitch is impeccable.
His reading of the game has come from knowledge of playing the same position all of his life, and whilst he is tall at 6ft 3in he has strength to man-mark players.
This of course is a major factor when playing amongst an Arsenal squad who treat zonal marking like a religion, and the sharpness of Rugani will put Mertesacker on thin ice.
There’s no doubting he would be a stunning addition to an Arsenal side that are just tweaking the last few nuts and bolts of a title-winning defence, but is he worth the money?
My answer is yes, and in today’s market you simply have to ignore the numbers because everything is ridiculous in my eyes. £25m for a potentially top class defender to spend a string of 5-8 years at the club is fantastic business, but sadly Juventus know that too and that’s why they want to keep hold of their prized possession.
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