Arsenal recently made an offer of around £34 million for Sassuolo striker Gianluca Scamacca, Italian journalist Alfredo Pedulla reports.
The Gunners are expected to sign at least one striker this summer, and they have already been linked with Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen.
It is now reported that the north London club made a bid of €40m (£34m) to Sassuolo for Scamacca, but the response was completely negative from the Italy international.
The 23-year-old prefers to continue in Serie A next term with AC Milan and Napoli among his admirers.
Our view:
Arsenal were interested in signing Sassuolo midfielder Manuel Locatelli last summer, but they were unsuccessful. The Italian eventually joined Juventus, who were his preferred club.
It appears a similar story with Scamacca, who seems intent on continuing in the Italian top-flight. Having known his desire, the Gunners should not spend more time trying to persuade him.
Instead, they should turn their attention to more achievable targets. The Gunners have been in advanced negotiations with Jesus’ representative. The agent has publicly confirmed the same.
Of course, the lack of Champions League football is a disadvantage for the Gunners, but Jesus could be lured with the opportunity to become the leader of the attack in the prime of his career.
Arsenal recently confirmed the departure of Alexandre Lacazette on a free transfer. This has left Eddie Nketiah as the only senior striker in the squad. He has apparently agreed a new contract.
The Gunners graduate seemed on course to leave the club at one stage, but turned his fortunes around during the final weeks of the campaign. He netted five goals from his last seven appearances.
Despite his exploits, he may not be the leading striker next term. Whoever comes in this summer is widely expected to become the first-choice centre-forward with Nketiah acting as his deputy.
