- 17 hours ago
Arsenal's number one January target DROPPED due to dismal form
Carlo Garganese
- 15 Nov 2023 12:50 GMT
- 4 min read
Arsenal and Chelsea transfer target Dusan Vlahovic is not doing a good job of selling himself to his prospective buyers after losing his first-team place at Juventus.
The Arsenal boss is a long-time admirer of the Serb and wanted to sign him in previous transfer windows. In January 2022, the then-Fiorentina man rejected the Gunners to stay in Italy and sign for Juventus in a deal worth more than €80 million instead.
EXCLUSIVE: Mikel Arteta still wants to sign Dusan Vlahovic
Despite this, Arteta remains a big fan of Vlahovic and would jump at the chance to sign him if the opportunity presented itself again.
Chelsea are also still interested as they themselves need to solve their weakness at the centre of their attack in 2024.
The Blues were in negotiations to swap Romelu Lukaku for Vlahovic this past summer but a deal couldn’t be done.
EXCLUSIVE: Tottenham eye Brentford double swoop in January
Juventus are still open to selling Vlahovic as early as January if the price is right.
A key reason for that - aside from the financial - is Juve are not satisfied with Vlahovic as the Serbian has continued to struggle this season.
In terms of goals only, Vlahovic had a good start to the 2023-24 season as he scored four goals and grabbed one assist in his first four matches.
However, even during these games his overall level of performance was inconsistent at best.
Subsequently, these poor performances started to transfer into the goals scored column too. And since matchday four, Vlahovic has failed to score or assist for Juventus.
He has made no goal contributions for the last two months.
This has led to Max Allegri dropping Vlahovic from the starting XI. He started from the bench in the 1-0 win at AC Milan, and has only come on as a substitute in the last two matches against former team Fiorentina and Cagliari.
Moise Kean has been preferred to Vlahovic in these games as - despite not scoring this season - the former Everton and PSG man has played well for the team.
It is now looking more likely than not that Vlahovic will start from the bench again when Juventus host Inter in a massive top-of-the-table Serie A match after the international break.
These poor performances make Juventus’desire to sell Vlahovic stronger but what impact will they have on Arsenal and Chelsea’s impression and valuation of the player?
Vlahovic’s disappointing Juventus transfer
Vlahovic arrived in Turin as one of the hottest properties in world football in January 2022 for €80 million from Fiorentina.
He had just scored the most goals in Serie A in a calendar year for 60 years and was posting numbers comparable to Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski.
However, things have not worked out for him in Turin - although many have blamed the negative tactics of manager Max Allegri for not getting the best out of him.
He scored just 14 goals in 42 games last season and his overall game has been extremely disappointing.
This term, he has managed the aforementioned four goals so far - one a penalty - but he has again been criticised for his overall play and his inability to link up with teammates and hold the ball up.
