The Gunners are moving quickly in the transfer market, ahead of a huge summer rebuild. Mikel Arteta’s squad is expected to go through wholesale changes.
Arsenal are in talks to sign Manuel Locatelli from Sassuolo, confirms club CEO Giovanni Carnevali. The Gunners have lodged a bid for the Mezzala but face competition from Juventus for his signature. Locatelli is currently in the Italy national team camp for Euro 2020. The youngster has scored two goals so far in the competition but is likely to be dropped to the bench against Belgium to accommodate Marco Verratti.
“They’re pushing hard to sign Manuel and it’s an important bid. We will see. Also, Juventus want Locatelli and we have a special relationship with them. We have a new meeting scheduled with Juve.
“We are trying to leave the lad calm, so I haven’t spoken to him or his agents yet. We can think about Locatelli’s future, but above all, we care about his present and that means Italy doing well at the Euros.”
Carnevali told Sky Sport Italia recently.
Arsenal, meanwhile, are also close to completing deals for Benfica’s Nuno Tavares and Anderlecht’s Albert Sambi Lokonga. The club has agreed fees with the respective clubs, and, as a consequence, the two players will now go through medical tests before signing their contracts.
Tavares is expected to cost Arsenal in the region of 8 million euros and is likely to act as a backup to Kieran Tierney. Lokonga will cost the Gunners twice as much as Tavares and will fill in the gaps soon to be left by the departures of Matteo Guendouzi and Granit Xhaka, one anticipates.
Arsenal are also said to be in talks with Brighton and Hove Albion for centre-back Ben White. Reports claim that an agreement between the two clubs can be reached shortly for a fee of around 50 million pounds.
