Arsenal submit stunning €70m Dusan Vlahovic transfer offer

Unlikely Arsenal Have Submitted Vlahovic Offer – Yet

Arsenal will not beat around the bush when it comes to their new centre-forward. Arteta has been backed financially by the club and having spent £45m on a midfielder, £30m on a goalkeeper and £50m on a central defender, there reason to believe he’ll be backed again.

He is also yet to sign a forward player since joining, and with excellent options in wide areas already and a heavily trimmed wage bill, it’s far from out of the realms of possibility that Arsenal will pay big for the man up top.

Where there is reason to be sceptical of this supposed offer is the timing of it. Arsenal may well go in with a deal just shy of £60m to sign the striker they want, but it would be a huge risk to pay the money now when the situation with Aubameyang and Nketiah is still not decided.

Those two would need moving on, or at least Aubameyang, before such large amounts of cash are parted with, and it would also weaken their position to move the former captain on with potential buyers knowing the desperation the Gunners will have to sell him by that point.

With Ainsley Maitland-Niles the subject of bids from Roma, the midfield situation surely take precedence, too.

There is also the main issue at play which is convincing the player to move to the Premier League for a club who aren’t in European competition. Champions League sides have shown their interest in Vlahovic and players in Serie A tend often to stay in the division, which opens the door for the likes of Inter and Juventus.

The Athletic stated that Vlahovic will need ‘a lot of convincing’ to make the move’ – and that would be in the summer, not even the winter.

Is he the man Arsenal want, as well? Of the options mooted, the Serbian doesn’t appear to be as alluring to the Gunners as other names like Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jonathan David, and he is currently outperforming all his underlying metrics which begs a question of sustainability.

Verdict: Arsenal could be holding an interest but to be submitting that kind of offer already without moving on Aubameyang or Nketiah would be an irresponsible strategy unless there is information on the two strikers fans aren’t privy to.

Of the strikers on the wishlist, other options feel more likely with it clear from many sources that Vlahovic isn’t keen on moving to Arsenal.