Arsenal to hold €40m transfer talks for 21-year-old forward

Arsenal have made a number of signings during Mikel Arteta’a tenure, to mixed results. Some are proving to be shrewd additions, some considerably less so, and some that need more time to give an answer either way.

He has yet to buy a single forward, though. Well, that’s not entirely true as Willian happened, but we’re going to pretend it didn’t.

Watching his Arsenal side struggle to carry out one of the two fundamental aspects of the sport (scoring) has put a lot of emphasis on methods, instructions and personnel.

In almost all cases, the public answer to solving any issue within a team is to buy new players. Arsenal missed glorious chances to avoid defeat and perhaps even win the game at Everton? Get a new centre-forward.

Arsenal to hold €40m transfer talks for Dejan Kulusevski as Mikel Arteta seeks to land Juventus forward in coming windows

Actually, that is a poor example, as that’s exactly what they need to do.

What about elsewhere in the forward line? Links have been ongoing for weeks now about a potential move for Dejan Kulusevski, who has struggled for regular minutes this season since the return of Massimiliano Allegri as manager. This is in stark contrast to last term where he played 47 times in all competitions under former boss Andrea Pirlo

The Swede has started the last two matches but has made only four Serie A starts in total this season, prompting talk of an exit he fueled up himself by stating that a new challenge in on his mind as he bids for more minutes.

Arsenal have been mentioned continuously since then with a multitude of reports coming out of Italy looking to confirm their interest.

Speculation has emerged over a potential swap deal with Nicolas Pepe, a rumour that we’re sure to hear many variations of over the coming weeks as the Ivorian continues to get the cold shoulder from Arteta who prefers to field departing 22-year-old’s over the record signing. Nobody is really arguing.

This particular report from La Republicca states that Arsenal ‘insist’ on the signing and a delegation will be sent to Turin early next week to try and find an agreement on the fee.

The Gunners will look to offer £25m plus £4.2m in add-ons, with Juventus said to be holding out for closer to £34m. While any reports from Italy in early December need to be taken with a pinch of salt, at least the figures being banded around all generally fall into the same ballpark.

It’s a move that Arsenal want to pull off and if the endless reports are to be believed then their interest is very real.

Is the 21-year-old going to solve the issues of chance creation, goals and midfield progression? Primarily a winger, it’s hard to envisage a point where someone arriving in the winter to the Premier League is going to dislodge Emile Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka or Martin Odegaard.

Should Arsenal really be keen on signing someone in the January, then it has to be a striker. Surely.