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Carnevali: Arsenal have submitted official bid to sign £34m star

By on July 1, 2021

According to Sassuolo chief executive Giovanni Carnevali, via The Athletic, Arsenal have made an official bid for Manuel Locatelli and are leading the race to sign the midfielder this summer.

It’s going to be a hectic few weeks at the Emirates and Mikel Arteta is in the market for at least one new midfielder as he looks to revamp a squad that finished eighth in the Premier League last season.

Granit Xhaka is expected to move to Italy while Dani Ceballos and Martin Odegaard have gone back to Real Madrid following their loan spells. Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi and Joe Willock are also set to leave so we desperately need reinforcements in the middle of the park.

Locatelli has emerged as a top target with several media outlets in recent days suggesting that we’re chasing the Italian international. Sassuolo have now confirmed Arsenal’s interest with chief executive Giovanni Carnevali revealing that we’ve tabled an ‘official bid’ for the 23-year-old.

Carnevali says Arsenal’s offer is an ‘important’ one and suggests we’re leading the race for his signature, but Juventus are also keen on Locatelli and talks expected to take place with the Serie A giants soon.

Carnevali is quoted by The Athletic as saying:

“It’s true that there are foreign clubs interested, including Arsenal, and so far they are ahead,”

“Arsenal have made an official bid for Locatelli. They’re pushing hard to sign Manuel and it’s an important bid. We will see.”

“Juventus are the only Italian club we talked to about Locatelli. They have interest, we spoke to (club director Federico) Cherubini last week.

“We have not yet discussed the financial details, but we have a good rapport and will talk it over soon.”

£34m asking price

Carnevali hasn’t confirmed exactly how much Arsenal have put on the table but the Daily Mail says Locatelli’s asking price has been set at £34m. So for Carnevali to say our bid is ‘important’, we must have offered close to that amount.

Obviously Juventus will provide stiff competition and if they’re prepared to match whatever Arsenal are offering, then I expect Locatelli will end up joining them this summer.

However, I desperately hope Arsenal can win the race for his signature as Locatelli looks to be a superb player and has really impressed with Italy at the Euro’s where he’s helped them reach the quarter-finals.

The former AC Milan academy graduate is a terrific all-round midfielder so I’d love to see him lining-up alongside Thomas Partey at Arsenal next season. Let’s see how things go but I still have a feeling he’ll end up at Juve, unfortunately.

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