Juventus are preparing a new contract offer for Merih Demiral, according to CalcioMercato (via Football Italia), as they look to ward off interest from Arsenal.
The centre-back was said to be a target for the Gunners in January, as well as for Everton and Leicester, although a move was ruled out after Demiral ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament.
Now as the Turkey international recovers, Juventus are keen to tie him down to a new long-term deal.
Arsenal meanwhile could actually benefit from a new deal for the 21-year old, with the London club needing to spend on other positions over their defence.
Currently, Arsenal have Shkodran Mustafi, David Luiz and Sokratis as centre-back options, while January loan signing Pablo Mari also made his debut earlier this week.
Should the Gunners opt to sign Mari permanently in the summer, which Sports Mole claim they will, Arsenal will have a total of six senior centre-backs, with Calum Chambers currently recovering from his own ligament injury and William Saliba due to return from his Saint-Etienne loan deal.
Sokratis has indicated that he could leave the Emirates in the summer, but if that is the case, Arsenal will still have five players to fill two starting spots, and so the club wouldn’t need to spend big on Demiral.
Instead, Arsenal could do with resolving other areas that have emerged as problematic, such as their lack of midfield depth.
Granit Xhaka, Lucas Torreira and Mesut Ozil are all players who could leave in the near future, so the Gunners could be better off using their summer budget to reinforce Mikel Arteta’s options in this area.
