Arsenal told to sign striker who once snubbed them in 'sensationally wrong' decision

Arsenal have been urged to go back in for Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, even after he rejected them in 2022, by former defender Mikael Silvestre.

The north London club's hunt for a player who can lead their line to Premier League glory, and put a relentless Manchester City to the sword, could end this summer.

Big names like Newcastle's Alexander Isak and Napoli's Victor Osimhen have been linked, but their ex-player thinks the Serbian Vlahovic is the ideal recruit despite him ruthlessly snubbing them two years ago.

The striker impressed with Fiorentina in Serie A and had plenty of interest, but ultimately chose Juventus over a switch to the Gunners - a deal that former Real Madrid and AC Milan man Antonio Cassano showed great distaste towards.

The initial Arsenal-Vlahovic dealings made headlines in January 2022 as a £50million plus midfielder Lucas Torreira was rejected in favour of the Old Lady's £66.6million. The deal made the striker one of the club's record purchases behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain and current Manchester United target Matthijs de Ligt.

The striker made the move from La Viola after a 17-goal haul highlighted him as one of the league's best, but former Italy international Cassano was critical about Vlahovic's choice of destination.

Speaking on Christian Vieri's Twitch channel in 2022, Cassano stated: "In my opinion, [Vlahovic's decision] is sensationally wrong. For the type of player I think he is, he needed to make an intermediate step to a team like Arsenal. For me, you know, he has always been a second-tier player."

Dusan Vlahovic played against England at Euro 2024 (

Image:

Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

When Vlahovic and Arsenal had their interest rekindled last January, ex-Gunners and United man Silvestre spoke out about whether or not the Serbian should be pursued by his former club.

Speaking to bettingexpert.com, Silvestre stated: "It's more of a summer signing because Juventus are fighting for the title. But, based on ability and technically he's excellent. We would have to deal with Juventus, which isn't easy, but would he be a good buy? Yes. 100 per cent.”

Juventus reportedly value Vlahovic at around £85million, which appears to be the going rate for a first-class striker. Victor Gyokeres has been linked to Arsenal and his release clause is exactly the same fee that Vlahovic is garnering. The likes of Isak and Osimhen would likely cost even more than that, valued at over £100million each.

With their former defender backing the move, Arsenal could yet approach the striker who once rejected them amid their summer striker search.