Arsenal are set for a busy summer on the transfer front as Edu and Mikel Arteta look to apply the finishing touches to their squad.
The Gunners have improved massively over the past few years under Arteta’s stewardship.
A team that was often finishing outside the top four has now been in the Premier League title picture for two years running.
Obviously there’s still some work to do to get Arsenal to title-winning level, and the Gunners staff will look to strengthen their ranks.
However, one player who has been linked with Arsenal for a number of years now – and who still appears to be on their radar – looks set to go elsewhere.
According to Tuttojuve, the Gunners are ‘still trying’ for Aston Villa‘s Douglas Luiz, but it looks as though he is now destined to join Juventus.
The report also plays down any notion of Arsenal potentially hijacking the move, saying Villa owner Monchi ‘doesn’t want to strengthen a rival’.
Arsenal set to miss out on ‘dream’ Mikel Arteta signing
Luiz has been described as Arteta’s ‘dream signing’ in the past and reports from Brazil earlier this year suggested he could’ve been available for £50million.
However, with speculation involving Luiz and Juventus having intensified so much, it now looks unlikely that the Gunners could now pull off a move.
And you can totally understand why Monchi wouldn’t want to sell the player to a rival. We saw what happened after Manchester City sold Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal.
While it’s a shame for the Gunners, there is a small silver lining in that Luiz likely won’t be joining another Premier League rival and potentially cause them damage next season.
Nevertheless, the Gunners will likely need to look elsewhere for new additions in the middle of the park.
As for Villa, they look set to bring in two top talents in the deal, with Juve duo Weston McKennie and Samuel Iling-Junior set to go the other way.