Vlahovic speaks after signing for Juve and rejecting Arsenal
Martin Macdonald
- 29 Jan 2022 08:58 GMT
- 3 min read
Dusan Vlahovic has spoken for the first time as a Juventus player after signing for the Bianconeri in the January transfer window.
The Serbian has been one of the most in-form strikers in European football over the last 18 months, enjoying a superb run of form with Fiorentina.
In the 2020/21 campaign he scored 21 goals in 34 starts in Serie A and is on course to beat that tally in 2021/22 as he already has 17 goals in 21 starts to his name.
His goalscoring exploits led to him becoming a wanted commodity, and as soon as the transfer window opened he was linked with numerous clubs.
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Arsenal were thought to be leading the race for Vlahovic's signature, but recent reports have suggested that a move to the Gunners never really interested the player.
Juventus, meanwhile, have been desperate for a centre-forward and despite their financial struggles, they have signed Vlahovic in a deal worth up to €75 million.
The transfer was confirmed on Friday evening, and Arsenal have now been forced into looking into alternatives.
Mikel Arteta is suffering from a striker crisis at the Emirates as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will probably not play for the club again, while Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah both have contracts which expire in June.
Why did Vlahovic sign for Juventus?
In a press conference on Friday, Vlahovic detailed some of his reasoning for signing for the Italian giants.
"Juventus represents pride, tradition, family. Juventus are always there until the last minute, they never give up," claimed the Serbian international.
"The team always comes first, I am at the disposal of the coach and my teammates, who I will try to help in the best way possible.
"We always want more, and we want to improve in the future. Today is my birthday, which is really wonderful, a special day for me.
"This is one of the happiest birthdays I’ve experienced so far. I want to make Juventus proud. We will always fight for all goals, as they say, fino alle fine!"
