With a contract running out in 2023, Nikola Milenkovic is an attractive player for a number of clubs.
Often linked with a move to the Premier League, the Serbian came close to joining West Ham United last summer before renewing his contract with Fiorentina, and while Tottenham were also keen at some stage, so were Arsenal.
The Gunners started the new campaign in style with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, and one of the star players on the day was William Saliba.
The young defender showed just why Arsenal paid so much money for him a few years ago to beat the competition, and while a few loans were needed to get him to where he is now, it’s all paid off.
With him, Gabriel Magalhaes and Benjamin White, the London side are well covered in the role at first glance, but there are also a few questions marks about the depth in the position beyond them.
Rob Holding has never fully convinced, while the likes of Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney can both play there, but aren’t naturals.
That means a cheap deal for someone like Nikola Milenkovic could have made sense, and Arsenal gave it a go.
This is what Corriere dello Sport are reporting on Tuesday in an article explaining that Fiorentina are now of the belief they can tie their star down until 2025.
Having ‘returned to sender the more or less insistent and more or less concrete offers of Juventus and Inter, of Sevilla and Arsenal’, the Serie A side now hope to hold onto Milenkovic.
When this move by the Gunners was made isn’t said, but it appears they did give it a go at some point this summer.
To no avail.
