Gunners considering bold bid for €65m-rated striker this weekend after Ollie Watkins bid rejected

Arsenal are still keen to sign a new striker before the transfer window closes and could make a late move for Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, TEAMtalk understands.

The Gunners submitted a bid of around £40m for Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins earlier this week, which was instantly rejected, and he won’t be joining the London side this window.

Aston Villa are on the verge of selling Jhon Duran to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr, who has already completed a medical ahead of the move, and Unai Emery has no intention of allowing his first-choice striker Watkins to leave too.

Unai Emery, meanwhile, has confirmed that Watkins isn’t pushing to leave Aston Villa. “Some players prefer to leave and some players accept to stay here and commit to Aston Villa and compete for our challenges. One of them is Ollie Watkins,” Emery said in a press conference.

Mikel Arteta’s priority ahead of Monday’s transfer deadline is to sign a new striker to cover for Gabriel Jesus, who is sidelined with an injury.

Sources state that Juventus striker Vlahovic is among Arsenal’s top targets. A final decision on whether to bid hasn’t been made, but the Gunners are considering a bid over the weekend.

The 25-year-old is open to a new challenge in the Premier League. He has scored seven goals in 18 Serie A appearances this season and has big admirers at the Emirates.

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Arsenal face hurdles in Dusan Vlahovic pursuit

A deal for Vlahovic won’t be straightforward, however. As we have previously reported, Juventus would need to sign another striker before sanctioning his exit.

The Turin-based club are now running out of time to sign a new centre-forward, even though they have already signed one new one – Randal Kolo Muani from Paris Saint-Germain.

Juventus manager Thiago Motta is not convinced that Kolo Muani can be relied upon as Juventus’ main striker in both the Serie A and Champions League, with back-up option Arkadiusz Milik currently sidelined with an injury.

In the event that Juventus do sign another new forward, sources suggest that they could consider selling Vlahovic for slightly less than his initial €65m (£54.4m, $67.4m) price tag.

RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko remains high on Arsenal’s shortlist but the German side are very reluctant to allow him to leave mid-season.

Sesko, 21, could be a viable target for Arsenal in the summer but it would take a mega-money bid to get him before the transfer window closes.

Vlahovic, however, is a player to keep a close eye on in the coming days.

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Meanwhile, recent reports have claimed that Arsenal have shown interest in Atalanta striker Mateo Retegui.

Retegui has been referred to as the “hot striker” in Italian football at the moment, with three goals more (16) than any other Serie A player this term.

There has been no indication yet as to what fee Atalanta could consider selling him for, but reports suggest Arsenal are keeping tabs on his situation.

In other news, reports claim that Aston Villa could rival Arsenal in the race to sign Matheus Cunha, although this is likely to be a summer saga, rather than a move happening in the next few days.

The Gunners have identified Cunha as one of their main targets to strengthen their left-wing position alongside Athletic Club’s Nico Williams.

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IN FOCUS: What Dusan Vlahovic would bring to Arsenal

By Samuel Bannister

Towering at 1.90m tall, it’s no surprise what kind of centre-forward Dusan Vlahovic is. If it’s a target man you want, this is the kind of player you’d design.

Renowned for his strength, Vlahovic excels with his hold-up play. But he doesn’t just stop there; although he won’t drop deep too often, this is a player with good ball-carrying abilities as well, making him extremely dangerous on transition if he can pin his marker and change the direction of play.

What about his finishing, though? Despite his potential, Vlahovic hasn’t always been the most prolific frontman. His best period as a goalscorer was between 2020 and 2022, when he scored 50 goals over two seasons (he was a Fiorentina player for one-and-a-half of those, and a Juventus player for the last half).

At Juventus, he hits double figures regularly, but still hasn’t taken that next step to becoming a regular 20-goal-a-season striker.

Vlahovic is left-footed and that represents his most common way to score, significantly more so than via heading, despite his height. He isn’t just a penalty-box poacher, either; the Serbia striker is a reliable free-kick taker and is dangerous from long range.

There’s a lot to like about Vlahovic in terms of his raw traits, but in his mid-20s, he still isn’t the finished article. With a bit of refinement to his game, he could reach the next level, but he is just outside the bracket of being top-class just yet.

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