Earlier on Friday, it was reported that Arsenal had made their first ‘real offer’ for Manuel Locatelli, currently at the Euros with Italy.
The Sassuolo star has been the target of many clubs these past few weeks, including the Gunners, who are battling the likes of Juventus and Borussia Dortmund for his signature.
Arsenal’s first bid, according to TuttoMercatoWeb, was worth €40m, which reportedly made the Serie A side’s legs ‘tremble’.
We’ll have to wait and see what comes of it, but if it were up to Paolo Rota, the man who discovered Locatelli at the age of eight in Pescate, near Lecco, he would avoid jumping to the Premier League this season.
He replied: “Certainly. He is a class of 1998, the time has come to take the big leap to demonstrate his work. He has grown a lot at Sassuolo and has had the opportunity to showcase himself. Now he has to fight for everything”.
The next question was whether Locatelli should stay in Italy and move to Juventus or take his chance abroad in a new league.
Rota was clear: “I would tell him to stay in Italy and go to Juve. It’s nice that the top foreign clubs are interested in him, but I think he has already chosen to go to Turin. They are certainly a team of his level, because Manuel, as well as being strong on the pitch, is a guy with his head on his shoulders”.
