Perfect striker snare gifted to Arsenal as Euro giants ‘would listen’ to star-sacrificing deal

Gary Cotterill believes Juventus “would listen” to a cash-plus-player offer from Arsenal for Dusan Vlahovic, so the sacrifice of Charlie Patino could see them land the striker.

In recent weeks, the Gunners’ forward travails have seen them fall behind in the title race. This time last year, they were at the summit of the league.

But currently, they’re five points shy of Liverpool, who occupy the top spot, in fourth place.

The recent slip has seen Mikel Arteta’s side fail to win any of their last three games, with two losses and a draw coming in that stretch.

You have to look back to four games ago to find the last time a central striker found the net.

Arsenal have held reported interest in a number of top strikers of late, and they’ve recently been told by Jermaine Beckford that they “are a centre-forward short of clinching the title,” which does not seem far from the truth.

Ivan Toney, Viktor Gyokeres, Victor Osimhen and Vlahovic have all been in their thinking at different times of late.

That suggests Arteta knows the lack of an elite striker is holding his side back, and he’ll look to address that problem in the January window.

Juve ‘would accept’ Arsenal offer for Vlahovic

While Toney looks to be the main option, TEAMtalk recently revealed he’s likely to pen a new deal with Brentford, so any interested sides may have to wait until the summer to get him.

Arsenal won’t want to miss out on their chance of winning the title twice in two seasons, so might switch their attention elsewhere so they can have a real crack in the second-half of the season.

That could see them move for Vlahovic, as Cotterill feels they’d be able to get him by sacrificing one of their players.

“Not Ivan Toney because I don’t think Brentford will sell him in January. Another player we know Mikel Arteta is a fan of is Dusan Vlahovic. Juventus wanted £50m, but that was too steep for Arsenal, but Juventus have financial problems,” Cotterill said on The Arsenal Beat.

“They would listen to a cash-plus-player offer and there are also these tax rules in Italy which is something for them to consider.”

Patino could be perfect sacrifice

If a fee under £50million and an Arsenal player would see Juventus let Vlahovic go, the perfect man could be shipped out of the Emirates.

The Serie A side have held an interest in Gunners midfielder Patino for some time, and it was recently reported they were looking to get him by offering Arsenal Moise Kean.

Given they were willing to let one striker go for Patino, if Arsenal offered him up in the deal for Vlahovic, it might well be accepted.

It seems the perfect move for Arsenal right now, as they need a striker and Patino – while a good prospect – is currently out on loan in the Championship, and has only ever played two senior games for the Gunners.

Vlahovic is a deadly attacker who’s performing in the here and now, and if he guides Arsenal to the title, they might not mind too much that they had to sacrifice Patino, even if he does go on to big things away from the Emirates.

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