Premier League underachievers Arsenal have identified the Juventus benchwarmer as a potential January target for Unai Emery.
Arsenal face a major challenge in their pursuit of Juventus defender Merih Demiral with Gazzetta dello Sport claiming that the Turkish international may be leaning towards a move to AC Milan instead.
The Gunners’ ever-vulnerable backline continues to cause multiple migraines in North London and, despite signing the experienced David Luiz and Soktratis Papastathopoulos in the last two summers, Unai Emery’s underachieving side look more uncertain than ever in defence.
The upcoming January transfer window does offer Arsenal the chance to start solving a time-honoured problem, however, with BleacherReport claiming that they are interested in Demiral should Juventus let him go in the winter.
He has made just one Serie A appearance since joining Maurizio Sarri’s side from Sassuolo and sits behind Matthijs de Ligt, Leonardo Bonucci and even Daniele Rugani in the pecking order.
Even a serious injury to Georgio Chiellini has not opened the door for him.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Demiral would welcome the chance to join Milan and link up with his friend and fellow Turk Hakan Calhanoglu. The Rossoneri would even be willing to sell Franck Kessie, the Wolves target, to finance a deal with Juventus’ current price-tag of around £26 million likely to prove a little steep.
So after showcasing their pulling power to bring Nicolas Pepe to North London over the summer, Arsenal will have to fight hard again.
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