Fiorentina chief Joe Barone confirmed on Friday that English clubs have come forward for Dušan Vlahović, but he and his agent are not ready to hold talks for the transfer in the winter market.
Arsenal are the club credited with most interest in the striker, who has 20 goals and four assists from 24 matches in all competitions this season.
La Republicca reported yesterday the Gunners have been talking to La Viola chairman Rocco Commisso for about a month and are waiting for an answer soon to know their chances of landing the 21-year-old.
Juventus are also interested in the Serbia international and Sport Mediaset state they ‘officially launch an assault’ to secure his services in January. The Turin club plan to offer €35m cash plus Dejan Kulusevski to Fiorentina in exchange for Vlahović.
It’s not clear whether it’s enough to convince Commisso because Mikel Arteta’s side ‘came forward’ with a ‘fresh €68m’ proposal. The north London club are ready to offer the player a gross annual salary of €18m.
The frontman’s contract expires in 2023 and he’s decided against signing a renewal. The Old Lady being the reason for his refusal is ‘not a secret’. It’s even said Vlahović waiting for a concrete offer from Juve could be the reason why he has been rejecting approaches from other clubs.
Calciomercato.it also claim Massimiliano Allegri’s side plan to offer €35m plus the Swede for the Serbian.
Fiorentina ‘only wants cash’ and Kulusevski, who has ‘many doubts’ about joining them, has a salary of €4.5m, which could also become a problem for La Viola to match. These factors make it ‘difficult’ for the Serie A side to sell Vlahović to Juventus.
Commisso, for his part, ‘wants to sell him now’ to Arsenal, who are the only club to make an official proposal. However, the striker is not in favour of joining the north London club.
Vlahović would prefer to wait until next summer, when he will have more options, if the likes of Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland were to leave Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund respectively.
