Arsenal, irrespective of whether they win the biggest silverware on offer this season, are keen to strengthen their ranks in the summer – but reports have suggest their pursuit of a Champions League winner could have hit a snag.
The Gunners, whose four-pronged pursuit of trophies continue after they beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 in the second leg of their Round of 16 Champions League tie, have all manner of targets on their radar.
That includes Julian Alvarez of Atletico Madrid and RB Leipzig defender Castello Lukeba – but both targets will cost the club a pretty penny.
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As a result, Arteta and his entourage are also advancing in the free agency market as a means of keeping the costs down. That is especially the case given a first-teamer needs to be sold because of their hefty spend last summer.
Juventus rival Arsenal for free agent transfer this summer
Alongside some of the most exciting forwards in world football, Arsenal are also looking to add some experience to their engine room.
Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi are the two-man partnership for Arteta in the middle of the park but the north London outfit are hoping to add more faces.
Their pursuit of Sandro Tonali has taken a hit in the previous days with the Italian open to an Old Trafford switch and Arsenal could therefore return their focus to signing Leon Goretzka, who plays for Bayern Munich.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, though, Juventus are also in the race for Goretzka – a midfielder who will be a free agent in the summer.
This isn’t the first time the Old Lady have been interested in the midfielder, who won the Champions League in 2019/20 with the German side.
The aforementioned report has suggested that he is now at the summit of Juventus’ summer shortlist and they are hoping that third time’s a charm. The Bianconeri are looking to fend off the competition.
Earlier this month, Arsenal were considered the ‘frontrunners’ for the Germany international’s signature and he reportedly would ‘love to play’ at the Emirates Stadium but Juventus’ interest could prevent the Gunners from getting a deal for the free agent over the line.
Why Juventus’ late entry could ruin Arsenal’s midfield plans
On the face of it, Arsenal is the much better prospect for a player nowadays: they are top of the Premier League at the time of writing and are flying high in the Champions League.
Elsewhere, Juventus are fifth in Serie A and were dumped out of Europe by Galatasaray.
The thing which could convince Leon Goretzka to move to Italy rather than England is the opportunity to play. That’s because Juventus’ midfield ranks are much weaker than that of Arsenal’s.
| Statistic | Leon Goretzka | Declan Rice | Martin Zubimendi |
| Minutes | 1326 | 2585 | 2606 |
| Goals/Assists | 2/1 | 4/5 | 5/1 |
| Pass success rate (%) | 93.2 | 87.8 | 88.2 |
| Tackles per match | 0.9 | 1.9 | 1.7 |
| Interceptions per match | 0.9 | 1 | 1.1 |
| Dribbles per match | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Overall rating | 6.84 | 7.32 | 6.96 |
Wherever the 31-year-old ends up at the end of the season remains to be seen but he’ll certainly add a layer of expertise to the midfield.
From the above, it’s clear that Goretzka would add some passing know-how to the Premier League table-toppers, though he doesn’t fare well in the defensive department. Regardless, he’d be a great addition for free.
