Why is Dusan Vlahovic up for sale already?

Robin Bairner

• 1 May 2023 15:05 BST
• 3 min read

It was less than 18 months ago that Juventus beat Arsenal to the €82 million signing of striker Dusan Vlahovic, who became the most expensive January transfer in Serie A history when he joined the Old Lady from Fiorentina.

It was a battle that was hard fought by the Gunners, and now they are ready to revisit a move for the Serbia international, whose career has hit the skids in Turin.

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And yet it had all started so promisingly for the 23-year-old frontman, who netted immediately on debut before going on to score a far-from-embarrassing seven goals in the final 15 matches of the Serie A season for Juve.

In 2022/23, though, he has netted a mere 11 times in 36 outings – a run that is not befitting of Juventus’ most expensive player ever, yet Arsenal fans may be surprised to see him apparently up for sale again, with TuttoMercatoWeb linking him with a move to the Emirates over the weekend.

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Where has it gone wrong for Vlahovic?

Firstly, it would be wrong to say that it is just Vlahovic who is off the boil at Juventus, with the club having picked up just one victory in their last eight matches. But the centre-forward is clearly suffering the most.

Aside from two goals and an assist in a man-of-the-match performance against Salernitana in February, Vlahovic has not scored domestically since the Turin derby in October. Admitted, he has missed a lengthy period because of groin problems and does have European goals against Nantes and Freiburg to his credit, but this is nonetheless a concerning run for such an expensive player.

“I remember there was criticism for Cristiano Ronaldo because he didn’t score in his first five games here,” head coach Max Allegri said in April.

Vlahovic’s scoreless run, though, stretches to 11 league matches, with the coach seen as a major problem for him.

On top of this, Juventus are in a fragile financial position, and their place in the Champions League next season is very much in the balance. Presently third in Serie A, they have a potential points deduction hanging over them while they could readily fall out of the top four given th gap between themselves and seventh is just five points.

Failure to reach the Champions League would see Juve forced to implement cost-cutting measures and the sale of one of their most valuable assets in the form of Vlahovic would be a quick remedy, particularly given his relative underperformance.

The door is potentially ajar, then, for Arsenal to