Joshua Zirkzee pushes Dusan Vlahovic to Arsenal

Carlo Garganese

Updated: 30 Apr 2024 04:18 CDT
3 min read

Joshua Zirkzee, Dusan Vlahovic — © IMAGO

Juventus are ahead in the race to sign Bologna sensation Joshua Zirkzee.

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That is according to Sky Sport journalist Luca Marchetti, who reports that Juventus are ahead of both AC Milan and Inter Milan for the Bologna striker.

Marchetti reports that the presence of Bologna manager Thiago Motta, who is in talks to replace Max Allegri as Juventus boss next season, could be decisive in bringing Zirkzee to Turin.

Were Juventus to be successful in signing Zirkzee, it would almost certainly mean that their current number nine Dusan Vlahovic will have to be sold.

And that spells good news for Arsenal.

According to Give Me Sport, Juventus are prepared to accept a fee of around €65 million for Vlahovic this summer.

This is a figure that is not far away from Arsenal’s valuation of the player.

Arsenal are in the market for a top-class striker this summer, with Gabriel Jesus having fallen out of favour and Kai Havertz operating in an unnatural role.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta remains a big fan of Vlahovic, having tried to sign the Serbian during the 2022 January transfer window.

However, Vlahovic rejected a move to the Emirates in favour of joining Juventus for €80m from Fiorentina.

© IMAGO - Juventus are ahead in Zirkzee chase

Vlahovic at Juventus

Vlahovic arrived in Turin as one of the hottest properties in world football.

He had just scored the most goals in Serie A in a calendar year for 60 years and was posting numbers comparable to Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski.

However, he struggled badly in his first 18 months at Juventus.

He scored just 14 goals in 42 games in his first full season last season and his overall game was extremely disappointing.

Vlahovic also was inconsistent in the first few months of this campaign, but he has improved greatly in 2024 and currently has a respectable 16 goals in 29 games in Serie A this season.

Arteta also has other alternatives for the striker role, including Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres, Napoli’s Victor Osimhen and Brentford number nine Ivan Toney.