Aston Villa fans will hate Arsenal midfield transfer U-turn as £45m Gunners star ‘eyed’ by Italian giants

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has another 24 hours to shake off his fury at VAR decisions during Saturday’s meeting with Newcastle United before his Gunners side are back in action once again.

The Spaniard blasted refereeing decisions at St James’ Park at the weekend as his side lost 1-0 to the Magpies. It’s still been a strong start to the season for the title challengers with a busy festive period ahead. Here’s your Tuesday evening transfer update.

Arsenal change midfield transfer plans

Arsenal are set to move their transfer focus away from Fluminese midfielder Andre and towards in-form Aston Villa lynchpin Douglas Luiz. That’s according to Football365, with the outlet claiming that while the Gunners still admire Andre and had scouts in attendance to watch him win the Copa Libertadores on Saturday, are more tempted by Douglas Luiz. The London club are said to understand that Villa will drive a harder bargain than the €30 - 35 million wanted by Fluminese, but are up for the battle.

Luiz was a target for Mikel Arteta in the summer of 2022 but Arsenal left interest too late and had multiple bids rejected on deadline day. Since, the 25-year-old has put pen to paper on a new contract and grown in importance under Unai Emery. Andre’s future could still be Premier League bound with Fulham and Liverpool linked with a move for the Brazilian.

Juventus chiefs in London looking at wantaway Arsenal star

One of the reasons for Arsenal’s pursuit of a midfielder, despite forking out £100 million for Declan Rice this summer, is that Thomas Partey is expected to leave the club this January.

Italian giants Juventus now look a likely destination for the 30-year-old with Tuttomercatoweb reporting that Juve directors Cristiano Giuntoli and Giovanni Manna have been having talks in London this week. The pair were seen at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday night with Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg also a target alongside the Arsenal Ghanian, who came to the Emirates Stadium for £45 million in 2020.

Partey is believed to have told Arsenal that he wants to seek new pastures in January in search of more regular minutes, which has turned the heads of European clubs such as Juventus, although Partey is ‘waiting for other proposals’ from Premier League and La Liga clubs.