According to Calcio Mercato, Arsenal have an offer ready for Juventus for next summer to buy Manuel Locatelli on a permanent transfer. The Italian midfielder will be back at his parent club, Sassuolo by the summer and will have a significant cost in terms of budget.
The midfielder rejected Arsenal and joined Juventus back in August 2021. He joined Allegri’s side on a two-year loan with an obligation to buy for £32m, Locatelli has had a mixed time at the Old Lady and Arsenal are looking to benefit and sign the 25-year-old in the summer transfer window. The midfielder has a current transfer value of €30m according to TransferMarkt and hasn’t yet got an assist nor a goal in 18 appearances so far this season.
In 2021 the Italian midfielder had the desire to join Juventus over the Gunners even with Arsenal offering the talented midfielder a healthier contract, the midfielder even denied extra money at Arsenal with the Gunners offering €5.5m a year compared to Juventus’ €3.5m. A lot of Arsenal fans would not want the Italian midfielder at Arsenal due to him snubbing the North London team just under two years ago, but the Italian has an undeniable talent and would ultimately strengthen Arsenal’s squad.
Despite the negative past circulating the Italian, the midfielder has some of the best defensive stats in Europe. Everyone knows an Italian loves to defend and this is a perfect example 0f that, with only one player having more successful tackles than Locatelli at the club this year (two per game). He’s also top two for tackle success rate in all thirds of the pitch.
The right-footed man whose contract expires in the upcoming summer has similar stats to Thomas Partey, who is Arsenals midfield Maestro. The Italian excels over Partey Technically and just falls short with tackles, with the Attacking, creative and defensive stats being only a couple of points away from each other. Even with a similar game to Thomas Partey, if Manuel Locatelli was to sign for Arsenal, the similarities between the two players could complement one another and create an unstoppable midfield pairing.
