Arsenal and Real Madrid are two of the most prominent football teams in European football right now, with the former going great guns in the Premier League and the latter looking to add another Champions League title to their collection. And, when you’re as successful as these two outfits, you can pretty much get the players you want. However, the stumbling block here is that Arsenal and Real Madrid are said to be after the same striker.
Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic made his name at Fiorentina after joining the Italian outfit from Partizan Belgrade in 2018. And after scoring forty-nine goals in just over a hundred games for the club, Vlahovic decided it was time to move on. Interestingly, the Serb was linked with a switch to the Premier League, with West Ham trying hard for the now twenty-three-year-old, but he decided to stay in Italy and make a big-money move to Juventus.
Vlahovic has impressed at Juve after joining just over a year ago, and even though he’s
missed a chunk of action this season, he’s still posted up impressive numbers, with ten goals and four assists from twenty-three outings. Therefore this, combined with other factors, has seen the striker come onto the radar of both Arsenal and Real Madrid, with both teams looking for options to play through the middle as central strikers. How this situation pans out is of huge interest to the fans of the two clubs and all well-known online betting platforms, as it will most likely see them again in contention next season for honours.
Arsenal lost Gabriel Jesus to injury during the World Cup, and while they have coped, they have also been found wanting at times. Vlahovic would give them cover in the central striker position, and he’d allow Mikel Arteta to play Jesus wide if necessary or operate with a two-man attack. Vlahovic also fits due to his age, and his height of 6’3” would certainly bring another dimension to Arsenal offensively. Arsenal needs to add quality in depth, especially where strikers are concerned, and Vlahovic fits the bill.
Vlahovic has been a target for Real Madrid before, so it’s no surprise he’s back on their radar in a big way. For years, and probably rightly so, there’s been an over reliance at the club on mercurial striker Karim Benzema, but his powers will wane, and he can’t be expected to shoulder all the responsibility in front of goal, especially centrally. Bringing in Vlahovic in the summer would be perfect, as the Serb could learn off Benzema while taking some of that strain off his shoulders.
At present, you’d say both clubs need a player like Vlahovic or similar; that much is clear. But, if push was to come to shove and the striker decided to head through the exit at Juventus, Arsenal could be a more likely destination. They’re a team, a young team, on the up. They will likely have won the Premier League in a few months, and they can probably afford to make the deal happen too.