Wanting a new midfielder in January, Arsenal undertook a long and eventually fruitless negotiation with Juventus for the signing of Arthur.
The Brazilian was out of favour at the Serie A side, and Mikel Arteta had made it clear he wanted to bring him in on a six-month loan, much like they had done with Martin Ødegaard.
Juventus weren’t interested, however, wanting at least 18 months and a clause to buy the player, which the Gunners refused to put forward.
Arthur isn’t the only player Arteta has his eye on, though, as Corriere dello Sport suggest Napoli’s Fábian Ruiz is also on his list.
He won’t be cheap, though, as it’s made clear the £40m Newcastle reportedly put forward for him in January ‘will not be enough’, and the Gunners ‘have understood’ that ‘the price in the transfer window is almost never right for those who sell’.
That’s perhaps a small dig at their failed efforts to get Arthur and Dusan Vlahovic, but one thing is clear: Fábian Ruiz, while potentially expendable, will come at a price.
