Italian giants Juventus reportedly have two Arsenal players on their summer shopping list with a potential swap deal on the cards.
The Turin outfit have already been linked with a move for Brazilian defender Gabriel Magalhaes ahead of the summer window, the club keen to find a natural replacement for the departing Giorgio Chiellini. It remains to be seen whether the Gunners would be open to a sale, with the former Lille man having become a key performer under Mikel Arteta.
Despite that, Juventus have now reportedly added compatriot and teammate Gabriel Martinelli to their shortlist having intended to bolster their attacking options. Argentine forward Paulo Dybala is set to depart the Juventus Stadium this summer at the end of his contract, with doubts also emerging over the long-term future of Alvaro Morata.
Whilst it would be easy to suggest that the Gunners would not be keen on losing either of Martinelli or Gabriel, the Italian club appear to have a plan on how to potentially tempt the north London side into a sale. According to CalcioMercato, Juventus are believed to be keen to offer Arthur Melo in part-exchange in an effort to secure the services of Martinelli.
The Gunners have of course been linked with a move for the Brazilian in the past, rumours suggesting they were keen on a deal in the January transfer window. In the end, they could not agree terms with Juventus - the former was understood to be keen on an 18-month loan deal, whilst Arsenal only wanted a six-month agreement.
His agent, Federico Pastorello, confirmed that a deal was indeed close. Speaking with La Repubblica, he said: “In January he was close to leaving and joining Arsenal.
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“He is too important a player to be marginalised, he must also think about his situation with the national team. He was signed to play a different style of football, with Maurizio Sarri he would have played Jorginho, Allegri likes him but instead he wants to play with two more physical midfielders.”
Arteta is of course still requiring midfield additions ahead of the 2022/23 campaign. Doubts continue to emerge over the long-term future of Granit Xhaka having seen a move to AS Roma collapse last summer, albeit the Swiss midfielder penned a new deal at the Emirates Stadium.
There are other options on their shortlist though with Ruben Neves having been regularly linked with a switch to the Emirates Stadium, whilst Arteta is understood to have made Leicester City playmaker Youri Tielemans one of his priority targets for the summer.
Elsewhere, it appears that Arthur has little to no chance of a future with Juventus. The 25-year-old made 31 appearances for the Italian side last term - only 16 of those being starts.
He still has over three years left to run on his current contract with the club having joined in 2020 in another swap deal involving Miralem Pjanic who was allowed to join Spanish giants Barcelona.
