Arsenal have been eyeing Ivan Ilic but Brighton and Hove Albion have made the first move to sign the Hellas Verona midfielder.
That’s according to Tuttomercatoweb, who claim that Ilic is attracting more and more interest.
It’s stated that Verona paid €10.8million (£9.6million) to sign Ilic from Manchester City and must pay another €4.8million (£4.3million) when they sell him.
For that reason, Verona have rejected a €15million (£13.3million) offer from Brighton as they just wouldn’t make much profit.
Torino are now pushing to secure a deal worth around €18million (£16million), but it’s still hard to see Verona selling at that price.
Torino boss Ivan Juric worked with Ilic at Verona and wants a reunion, but they will have to dig very deep to sign him.
Arsenal lurking in Ivan Ilic race
Brighton will hope to get a deal done and provide Roberto De Zerbi with another quality midfielder.
The 21-year-old has failed to score this season and only has one assist to his name but did notch one goal and four assists last term.
A Serbian International, Ilic has impressed in Italy and even has some interest from Arsenal.
Corriere dello Sport reported in December that Arsenal had scouted Ilic in action for Verona against Lazio.
Ilic was a young player at Manchester City when Mikel Arteta was coaching there, and the Arsenal boss will surely remember seeing Ilic’s talent as a kid.
Now a regular in Serie A and for his country, Ilic is growing into a quality player and Arsenal appear to have one eye on a move.
We can’t really see Arsenal moving for Ilic this month as they focus on signing a winger, so Brighton will hope to strike before the Gunners – and no doubt sense major profit down the line if Arsenal are keen.
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