REPORT: Arsenal Will Have To Pay‘At Least’£84M For Player Who Both Berta And Tognozzi Like A Lot

Arsenal are the club “most interested” in signing Juventus winger Kenan Yildiz, according to reports in the Italian media.

Sporting director Andrea Berta is keen to reinforce Mikel Arteta‘s squad with a winger and Tuttosport claim that the Turkish international, along with Nico Williams, have been identified as the top options.

Yildiz is classed as one of the most promising young players in European football, having scored 9 goals and provided 7 assists in 48 appearances last season.

Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City have been linked with the 20-year-old in recent months but it appears that the Gunners are the team most likely to make a bid for him this summer.

Juventus are reluctant to sell Yildiz

Tuttosport report that Juve would want “at least” €100m (£84m) for the young forward, and that is considerably more than the €50m (£42m) to €60m (£50.5m) that Arsenal have set aside for reinforcing their options in wide areas.

The Serie A side’s new general manager, Damien Comolli, is also expected to begin negotiations with Yildiz and his representatives soon to tie him down to a new contract. His current deal expires in 2029, having only signed his last extension back in August, but the club want to increase his pretty modest salary.

Arsenal do have an ace up their sleeve

The Gunners are expected to appoint Matteo Tognozzi as an assistant to Berta. He is believed to have had a hand in signing Yildiz when he was part of Juventus’s recruitment team in 2022. Whether those connections will come in use now, we shall have to wait and see.

For the time being, the Turkish star is expected to remain in Turin but that could change if talks over his new contract don’t reach a successful conclusion.