Arsenal table an offer for Italian midfielder amidst interest from Juventus

Sassuolo CEO Giovanni Carnevali has revealed that Premier League side Arsenal have made a bid to sign Manuel Locatelli this summer.

Locatelli has impressed for the Italian national team at Euro 2020, and his performances have attracted interest from Arsenal as well as Serie A giants Juventus.

Arsenal are in the market to sign another central midfielder, as Dani Ceballos has left the club and returned to Real Madrid following the end of his loan spell.

🗣 "It's true that other clubs from abroad are interested, Arsenal are one of these and they are ahead of everyone else because they tabled the only concrete offer we have received so far."

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) July 1, 2021

The Gunners’ interest in Locatelli is serious as per Carnevali, but he admitted that Sassuolo have a special relationship with Juventus. Whether or not that will tilt the transfer tug-of-war in their favor remains to be seen.

"Juventus are the only Italian club we talked to about Locatelli," Carnevali told Sky in Italy. "We met last week with (Juventus sporting director Federico) Cherubini.

"There is interest from their side, we haven't explored all the terms and evaluations, but we have an excellent relationship with Juventus so we will continue these talks.

"It's true that other clubs from abroad are interested, Arsenal are one of these and they are ahead of everyone else because they tabled the only concrete offer we have received so far."

Arsenal facing stiff competition to sign Locatelli

Juventus took a step back last season as they tried to promote younger players under former manager Andrea Pirlo.

The experiment didn’t work out well as Juventus failed to win the Serie A title for the first time in nine years. There were some serious repercussions as Pirlo was sacked and replaced with Max Allegri.

Sassuolo CEO Carnevali to Sky Sport: “Arsenal have made an official bid for Locatelli. They’re pushing hard to sign Manuel and it’s an important bid... we will see.Also Juventus want Locatelli and we’ve a special relationship with them. We’ve a new meeting scheduled with Juve”.

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 30, 2021

With Juventus interested in Locatelli, Arsenal will find it hard to sign the Italian. Juventus will offer Champions League football and the chance to remain in Italy, which could trump Arsenal’s offer.

The Bianconeri will have to make an offer soon though, as Arsenal are moving quickly to replace Granit Xhaka, who has been linked with an exit.

AS Roma have been linked with a move for Xhaka, and Arsenal could use the money they receive from his sale to sign Locatelli.