Arsenal told to sign ace who once snubbed them in "sensationally wrong" decision

24 January 2024 , 12:57

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Arsenal were strongly linked with Dusan Vlahovic two years ago (Image: Getty Images)

Mikel Arteta has been urged to reignite his interest in Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic by ex-Arsenal ace Mikael Silvestre.

During the winter window of 2022, the Gunners were relentlessly linked with the Serbia international as they chased down Champions League qualification. At the time, Vlahovic was at Fiorentina and Arsenal were well in the race for his signature, but the striker opted to snub the interest from north London to join Turin-based titans Juventus in a £62.5million deal.

As a result, Arsenal ended the January window of 2022 without a new exciting attacking addition. Meanwhile, Vlahovic struggled in the opening exchanges of his Juventus career, which inspired Italian football legend Antonio Cassano to claim that the striker had made a mistake by swerving the Gunners for the Old Lady.

"In my opinion [Vlahovic's decision] is sensationally wrong," Cassano explained. "For the type of player, I think he is he needed to make an intermediate step to a team like Arsenal, Tottenham, or Sevilla, who signed [Anthony] Martial. For me, you know, he has always been a second-tier player."

Months later, Silvestre has suggested that Arsenal try to sign Vlahovic again, but may be hamstrung financially unless they can convince the 23-year-old would be willing to initially arrive on loan. Speaking to bettingexpert.com, the Frenchman claimed: "I don’t think they can afford him financially.

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"Based on ability and technically he’s excellent. We would have to deal with Juventus which isn’t easy. Would he be a good buy? Yes. 100%. I don’t think it will happen unless they can get him on loan.

"We have two weeks left of the window. It’s more of a summer signing because Juventus are fighting for the title and it wouldn't be smart to jeopardise their chances. It will be a close fight with Inter for the title and they want to maintain that so it’s not realistic this winter."

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Dusan Vlahovic would be a "good buy" for Arsenal according to one ex-Gunner (Getty Images)

Arsenal have spent the entire January transfer window the subject of speculation suggesting they could sign a new striker before the turn of the month. Recent attacking woes have meant the clamour to sign attacking reinforcements have grown louder from disgruntled fans.

However, Arteta has already quashed talk that a new striker will be arriving within the next seven days. Asked about potential signings last week, he told reporters: "No. But, first thing, that’s because I love the players that we have."

Josh O'Brien