According to Alfredo Pedulla, Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici is set to arrive in London within the next days to hammer out a potential deal for Arsenal target Daniele Rugani. The Gunners are keen to sign the defenders, with just a few days left till the transfer window slams shut in England. It is believed Juventus are willing to sell Rugani if they receive a lucrative offer.
Why Arsenal’s transfer policy could backfire
Arsenal have raised quite a lot of eyebrows in the ongoing summer transfer window, despite their budget restraints. The Gunners notably secured the signing of Nicolas Pepe for a fee of £72 million. However, Lille will only receive £20 million upfront. As for the rest of the amount, it will be paid in instalments over the next five years.
The addition of Pepe made sense as Arsenal were lacking the creative spark and dynamism going forward. But, the North London giants took a considerable risk signing William Saliba. The Frenchman joined from St. Etienne but will be sent back to the Ligue 1 on a season loan deal.
In addition to this, Arsenal also signed young prodigy Gabriel Martinelli for a fee of £6 million. Although the Brazilian is exceptionally talented and has already shown glimpses of his potential in the pre-season, it was an unnecessary step in many ways.
Firstly, the Gunners could have used that fee to buy a new defender. And most importantly, it’s unlikely Martinelli will instantly improve the attack as he is still a prodigy.
Failure to offload unwanted players
Arsenal were expected to boost their transfer budget by selling some of their unwanted players. Mesut Ozil, Shkodran Mustafi and Mohamed Elneny were among the players that were expected to head to the exit door this summer.
That being said, the North London giants have failed miserably in their attempts to find a potential suitor for any of these three players. Elneny was notably linked with a move to West Ham earlier this summer. But, he is still a member of the club along with Ozil and Mustafi. And their lucrative wages could surely put a huge dent in Arsenal’s pursuit of Rugani.
Therefore, it’s probably fair to assume that the Gunners won’t be able to secure a deal for the Italian centre-back and will instead, have to rely on their young guns. That is, of course, unless Emery comes up with yet another masterplan to lure Juve into selling their defensive gem.
