Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta answered questions today about the failed bringing of Dusan Vlahovic, insinuating that the Serbian striker rejected the London club because of the money.
After an impressive year with Fiorentina, Dusan Vlahovic was the target of the biggest clubs in Europe, clubs such as Arsenal, Manchester City, Barcelona inquired about his services, and Juventus managed to prevent the competition and secure the signature of the Serbian striker.
The former Partizan striker has not stopped delighting Neroazure since he arrived at the club, he left a good impression on the coach and teammates even before he wore the Old Lady jersey, and so far he has scored two goals in two appearances on the field.
The leaders of Juventus will not complain about the 75-bag of 76 million euros they decided on for the 22-year-old center forward, but they will probably watch the impressive games of Vlahovic-Arsenal with remorse.
Namely, Mikel Arteta was reluctant to bring the center forward of the Serbian national team to the Emirates, but his manager did not answer the calls of the English club, because Dusan was not interested in moving to the island.
Ahead of the match on Thursday night against the Wolves, the Spaniard was asked if quality players would want to play for the club, considering what happened to Vlahovic.
– Absolutely. We have a tradition, what inspires the club, what we as a club are huge. Everyone wants to play for Arsenal. I have not once had a phone call from a player, or a staff member, or someone in the recruits to tell me that he does not want to join Arsenal. That is for sure – said Arteta and then continued:
Then, if they go (somewhere else) for financial reasons, it’s something else. But their willingness to come and be a part of this… I have not experienced anything different and we are really glad.
When asked if his team is strong enough after not bringing in any players last month, he said:
– We did what we believed was the right thing to do, especially with the players who had to leave. We want only the best people and the best players in this club, even when we are in a hurry or under various pressures, if the reasons are not there to bring a player, we will not do that – the Arsenal coach underlined.
Vlahovic has scored 18 goals in Serie A this season and will make his Champions League debut on February 22 against Villarreal.
