Juventus push Dusan Vlahovic to Arsenal

Carlo Garganese

Updated: 26 Jan 2025 13:05 GMT
4 min read

Juventus are trying to push Dusan Vlahovic out of the club this month after leaving him on the bench for a third successive game.

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Vlahovic has been a substitute for Juventus in their last three games against Atalanta, AC Milan and Napoli.

In the first two of these games, Juve manager Thiago Motta opted to play Nico Gonzalez out of position in a false 9 role.

And in Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Napoli, new loan signing Randal Kolo Muani was thrown in for his debut and even scored to give Juve the lead.

The Italian media believe these are clear signs that Juventus want to sell Vlahovic before the end of the transfer window and are trying to push the Serbian away.

The ideal destination for Juve is Arsenal, who need a striker this month and can afford the 24-year-old.

However, FootballTransfers revealed earlier this week that talks had broken down between the clubs with Arsenal preferring a loan and Juve needing a sale.

Nevertheless, Vlahovic's future in Turin is very much in doubt.

What did Motta say?

Motta spoke well of Vlahovic and how he reacted to being left out once again against Napoli.

“Vlahovic reacted very well, he is a very positive leader in this squad,” said Motta.

“He is coming back from a small injury, he helped the team a great deal and knows he can be a very important choice off the bench to give us different characteristics in the second half to maintain or even raise the level over the 95 minutes.”

Juventus want to sell Vlahovic

Juventus are open to offloading Vlahovic this month but will only do so if it is an outright sale, or at the very least a loan with an obligation to buy.

Vlahovic has a contract in Turin that expires in 2026 and renewal talks are not going well.

Vlahovic is the highest-paid player in Serie A on €12 million per season and Juventus are not willing to continue paying him that much given both his underpar performances on the pitch and the club’s new policy of lowering the wage ceiling.

© IMAGO - Vlahovic has disappointed at Juventus

If a new contract can’t be agreed soon - which seems unlikely - Juventus will have no option but to sell Vlahovic in one of the two transfer windows in 2025 to avoid losing him on a free transfer in 2026.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been a long-term fan of the 24-year-old, having failed to sign him in January 2022 when he left Fiorentina for Juventus for €80m.