Arsenal linked to Serie A midfield star
Arsenal are reportedly interested in Italian international Manuel Locatelli, according to the Mirror.
The Sassuolo midfielder has two years left on his current deal, and that has raised the ears of interested suitors.
The 23-year-old is currently representing Italy in the European Championships. Thus, any interested club would have to wait until the end of the tournament to land his signature.
With Granit Xhaka looking likely to leave the Emirates Stadium for Italian side Roma, the Gunners are naturally looking for replacements.
The North London outfit continue to be linked to several names in the midfield position, with Yves Bissouma and Sambi Lokonga the most talked about.
But they are believed to be also tracking Locatelli at the Euros, who had an excellent season at the Mapei Stadium.
Manuel Locatelli during the 2020/21 Serie A season:
◉ Most touches
◉ Most passes
◉ Most passes into the final ⅓
◎ 2nd-most passes into opp half
◎ 2nd-most tackles madeJust another Italian midfield maestro. #ITA
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) June 11, 2021
However, their plans to land the coveted midfielder can be scuppered early on, with European heavyweights Manchester City, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain all fighting in a ring.
The young midfielder made 34 league appearances for Sassuolo, scoring four goals, and assisting three. He was previously at AC Milan, where he made 63 appearances.
He is valued €35.00m by the German site, Transfermarkt.
Do you think Arsenal should prefer Locatelli in front of Bissouma and Lokonga? Write down your thoughts below.
He is different from Bissouma, in that he is more creative rather than defensive, so both can be signed. However, considering the names of the clubs interested in him and the fact that we have no European football, it would be far fetched to think he will be joining us. Rather we should be looking at realistic targets like Perreira of WBA, who also has PL experience to his advantage. The advantage of PL players is that they will need no time to adapt.
Dont mind the clowns jumping from pillar to post with impossible stunts. Offering bids where they can not reach. How foolish they think we are for believing in them. Common sense should tell you that players from outside the league have proven to need time to adapt. Pepe a very good example. Big money, but no immediate impact. On the other hand there are deals like Bissouma and PEREIRA who is a sure deal to impact our team but no, they won’t do it. They want to be plowing where it will take too much money. FRAUD IN THE PIPELINE.
Amazing player, worth every penny, but destined for Juve so lets not waste our enthusuasm.