It’s well known that Manuel Locatelli turned down Arsenal to join Juventus in 2021, and Sassuolo chairman Giovanni Carnevali has revealed that he rejected a better offer from Arsenal to let the player join the Serie A side.
The Old Lady took the midfielder from Sassuolo on a two-year loan deal with a mandatory purchase option of €25m plus €12.5m in bonuses, with his stay there made permanent last summer.
As part of Storie di Serie A series, Alessandro Alciato had a lengthy chat with Carnevali, and his quotes are relayed by Tutto Juve.
The chairman has now revealed he was ‘attached’ to Locatelli and Davide Frattesi, who is currently on loan at Inter Milan, and that seem to have played a part in helping the Turin club sign Locatelli.
When asked about the recent transfers, he gave an insight into why Arsenal failed to secure Locatelli’s services three years ago.
“There are two players to whom I feel particularly attached, Frattesi and Locatelli. They are two boys that I tried to please when they were transferred. The economic side of a transfer is important, but not decisive,” he said.
“For example, Locatelli absolutely wanted to go to Juventus, we satisfied him even though we gave up the financial aspect because there was interest from another club, Arsenal.”
Last year, the Juve player’s brother, Mattia, had also revealed about Arsenal’s approach
Instead of getting the Italian, Arsenal signed Albert Sambi Lokonga in the summer of 2021, but that hasn’t worked out as planned just yet, as the Belgian is currently on loan at Luton Town.
