Arsenal have reached an initial agreement with Fiorentina to sign Dusan Vlahovic during the January transfer window, reputed journalist Gianluca Di Marzio claims.
The Gunners started off the campaign in a poor fashion with three successive league defeats, but they have made amends with five wins and two draws from the next seven games.
The club are now within three points off the top four. They have an excellent chance to go level with fourth-placed West Ham United, who have a difficult challenge against Liverpool tomorrow.
It has been a terrific rival for the north London giants, and it now appears that the club are keen on securing the services of Vlahovic as early as the winter transfer window.
Fiorentina chiefs recently made the trip to London, and it is reported that the Gunners have agreed to meet the €80 million price tag for the striker with multiple add-ons.
However, there is still a ‘distance’ to agreeing a deal with the player and his representative, who prefer to delay a decision until June as they look for ‘more important offers’.
With just 20 months remaining on his contract, La Viola prefer to sell the centre-forward in January. They have lined up Sassuolo’s Domenico Berardi as a potential replacement.
The Gunners currently have multiple strikers in the squad, but Eddie Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette are widely expected to leave with their contracts expiring next summer.
Lacazette has recently been instrumental for the Gunners up front, but the striker appears to have made the decision to move on amid his reduced playing time over the past year.
Vlahovic would be an excellent addition to the ranks. The Serbian has improved with his hold-up play in recent campaigns. He has netted 29 league goals since the start of last season.
He would provide a different dimension to the Gunners’ set-up with his good aerial presence in the box. The club have not had such a striker since Olivier Giroud.
Giroud’s limited pace on the counter-attack was a demerit, but Vlahovic does not have such concerns despite being one of the tallest strikers in Serie A at 190 cms.
At 21, he has the potential to become a world-class striker in future. With that in mind, Vlahovic may have second thoughts over joining the Gunners at the moment.
The club have not qualified for the Champions League for five seasons in a row, but there have been signs of improvement during the early phase of the current campaign.
Should the Gunners sustain their league form until January, they could be right in the mix for the top four. This could play a key part in convincing the Serbian to join them.
If that happens, there is a high likeliness that the Gunners could cash in on Nketiah and Lacazette at the turn of the year rather than losing them for free next summer.
