Arsenal table £34.1m bid as Arteta pushes to sign 23-year-old international star

Arsenal have tabled a £34.1m [€40m] offer for Sassuolo midfielder Manuel Locatelli as Mikel Arteta tries to strengthen in the middle of the park this summer, according to Tancredi Palmeri.

Arteta is expected to be extremely active in the transfer market over the coming weeks as he overhauls a squad that finished eighth last season and he’s already snapped-up highly-rated left-back Nuno Tavares from Benfica.

However, Arsenal are also on the look-out for midfield reinforcements as Dani Ceballos and Martin Odegaard have returned to Real Madrid, Matteo Guendouzi has joined Marseille while Granit Xhaka is also expected to seal a move to Italy.

It leaves Arteta needing to bring in at least two midfielders this summer and Locatelli has emerged as a prime target after impressing for both club and country over the past 12 months.

Sassuolo chief executive Giovanni Carnevali claimed earlier this month that Arsenal had submitted a formal offer for the 23-year-old. Carnevali was quoted by The Athletic as saying:

“It’s true that there are foreign clubs interested, including Arsenal, and so far they are ahead,”

“Arsenal have made an official bid for Locatelli. They’re pushing hard to sign Manuel and it’s an important bid. We will see.”

However, Juventus are also reportedly in the running to sign Locatelli and the player is believed to favour a move to Turin so Arsenal are facing a battle to lure the midfielder to north London.

That doesn’t appear to have discouraged the Gunners though as Tancredi Palmeri claims Arsenal have submitted a £34.1m [€40m] bid – which the beIN Sports correspondent suggests is a slight increase on their opening offer.

Juventus are yet to formalise their interest so Arsenal are currently leading the race to sign Locatelli if he wants to move to England but his preference to remain in Italy could still scupper Arteta’s hopes of landing the midfielder.

We’ll have to wait and see how things progress but Locatelli would be a superb signing if Arsenal could pull it off. He’s become one of the best all-round midfielders in Serie A since joining Sassuolo in 2018 and he featured in five of Italy seven games as they won the Euro’s this summer.

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The former AC Milan youngster is known for his excellent work-rate, passing range and the ability to carry the ball forward from deep so he’d be an excellent replacement for Xhaka if Arsenal could get a deal agreed.