Arsenal had real belief that Lucas Torreira would be a trump card for them in the race to sign Dusan Vlahovic – but are set to lose out to Juventus.
That’s according to The Express, who claim that Arsenal believed Torreira’s loan spell at Fiorentina this season left them in a ‘unique’ position over other clubs.
Torreira’s loan move allegedly means Arsenal have a strong relationship with Fiorentina – all pretty positive stuff ahead of a possible Vlahovic plea.
Arsenal were willing to give up cash plus Torreira permanently for Vlahovic, but Juventus swooped in with a full cash deal.
Torreira hasn’t kicked on since being brought in by Unai Emery and can almost certainly leave Arsenal permanently this summer.
Sky Sports claim that Juventus will be paying around £63million to bring Vlahovic from Florence to Turin this month.
The most interesting part of that Express report is a claim that Edu actually shelved other Arsenal deals to focus entirely on Vlahovic.
Edu wants to splash Arsenal’s budget on Vlahovic and was willing to do so at the expense of other positions.
Many still expect Arsenal to sign a new midfielder and even a new goalkeeper before Monday, but those moves would have waited in favour of Vlahovic joining.
Sadly for Edu, those efforts have proven fruitless as Vlahovic will be joining Juventus and not Arsenal.
You can somewhat understand why Edu put all of his eggs in the Vlahovic basket; he’s just that good.
The Serbian hitman has smashed 17 goals in 24 games this season, continuing to destroy Serie A defences.
Now one of Europe’s top young strikers alongside Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, Vlahovic looks destined for greatness.
Having that kind of goalscoring threat in the Arsenal side would have taken the Gunners to the next level, but this is the problem with targeting the top stars; the battle to sign them won’t be easy.
Edu will now have to hope that his decision doesn’t backfire, and that Arsenal can still make some signings before Monday.
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