Arsenal emerge as outsiders to sign £31m ex-Premier League star amid 'verbal agreement' claim
The defender looks set to leave the Serie A this month after falling out of favour with Juventus.
Arsenal are yet to make a January signing as they aim to strengthen their squad depth to try and keep pace with Liverpool in the Premier League title race.
Mikel Arteta’s side drew 2-2 with Aston Villa in their last league game, leaving them second in the standings, six points behind Arne Slot’s team, who also have a game in hand.
They all but confirmed their qualification to the Champions League Round of 16 this week too, by beating Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday night. Arsenal will now look ahead to a trip to play against Wolves and transfer target Matheus Cunha on Saturday.
They have been linked to a Serie A defender in recent days amid the injury to star centre-back William Saliba. The Frenchman is set to be out with a hamstring injury until at least early February. Arteta said ahead of the Champions League game against Zagreb: “He is evolving well. The last few days, he was feeling much better already, but this game comes a little bit too early for him.”
Arsenal could land former Manchester City defender
The Gunners are no strangers to signing players that used to call the Etihad their home, and the latest could come from Serie A side Juventus this month. They have been linked with 33-year-old Danilo, who is set to leave the Italian side.
According to Italian outlet TuttoSport, Danilo has been excluded from the Juventus squad on several occasions this season, and looks most likely to move to fellow Serie A side Napoli after a verbal agreement has been made. However, the report also states that there has been Premier League interest in the form of Arsenal, who could sign the Brazilian, in order to add some much-needed depth at the back.
There is also said to be interest from the Saudi Pro League, but Arsenal would hope to tempt the defender to to England instead with the promise of Champions League football. He could help fill the void that is currently left by Saliba and will be a useful asset for Arteta considering the fact that centre-back Gabriel has faced several minor injuries this season.
Arsenal set to lose defender in January window
The Gunners could be even more keen to add reinforcements in defence during the January window as they look set to lose full-back Kieran Tierney to his former club Celtic.
The 27-year-old is on the verge of agreeing a pre-contract agreement with the Scottish side, as his deal at Arsenal is due to expire in the summer, after a six-year spell at the Emirates.
Tierney has made just three appearances for Arteta’s side this season, after spending a large part of the year recovering from a hamstring injury that he picked up with Scotland at Euro 2024.
He has made a total of 128 appearances with Arsenal since joining in 2019 for a fee of £25m from Celtic, scoring five goals and contributing 13 assists.