Dusan Vlahovic looks to be on his way out of Juventus and Unai Emery is being credited with an interest in the Serb striker
Aston Villa are being linked with a shock £50m summer raid on Juventus for in-demand striker Dusan Vlahovic.
The Serbian international has long been linked with a move to Arsenal, and with a contract that expires in 2026, Juve are said to be keen to either secure an extension or offload the player while he still has a significant value.
However, the TeamTalk website says negotiations are at a standstill as the Italians are not willing to offer terms matching Vlahovic’s reported £215,000 per week salary, opening the door to interest from elsewhere.
As far as the Premier League is concerned, that was thought to mean Arsenal, and they are thought to remain in the race, but TeamTalk is citing “sources” claiming concrete interest from Villa in the 25-year-old.
They report: “In a major development, Aston Villa, who are on the hunt for a new number nine to replace Jhon Duran, have identified Vlahovic as a target for the summer.
“Villa are yet to make any formal enquiries, but sources state that their interest in Vlahovic is ‘concrete’ and Unai Emery’s side are seriously considering an approach in the summer.
“Vlahovic’s entourage have worked hard in recent weeks offering the player to many clubs around Europe, such as Newcastle, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund and Marseille.
“So far, none of those clubs have indicated they are keen to move for Vlahovic, but Villa are interested and could swoop for his signature.”
Villa sold Duran to Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr for £64.5m in January, leaving Ollie Watkins as Unai Emery’s only front line centre-forward. However, the Villa boss has a £40m option to buy Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford at the end of the season - plus concerns about player spending that could see more exits of established stars this summer, just as it did for Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby last year.
And that presents an added twist following Arsenal’s reported interest in Watkins themselves in January, which could potentially be revived in the summer thereby paving the way for Vlahovic to join Villa.
Reports at the time claim Emery was open to letting Watkins leave for Arsenal if the right deal could be struck, but Villa were demanding £60m for the England man while Arsenal valued him nearer to £40m. However, it is claimed that Watkins was “excited” by the thought of joining Arsenal, suggesting a changing of the centre-forward guard at Villa Park could be on the cards some the end of the season.
