Arsenal are reportedly interested in bringing Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanic to the Emirates and Arsene Wenger is personally said to have called the star to gauge his interest in moving to London, according to reports the Sun.
The North London club are said to be looking out for potential replacements to Spanish midfield maestro Santi Cazorla. Should he not sign a contract extension with the club, Wenger is said to be looking to bring Pjanic to the Emirates to serve as the Spaniard’s long term replacement.
Miralem Pjanic arrived in Turin only last summer from Roma for an hefty fee of €32 million and has featured prominently for the Old Lady appearing 20 times and netting six goals this term so far. Before making the switch to Turin, the Bosnian was linked to a number of Premier League clubs and Wenger has long expressed his admiration for the player in the past.
The report mentions that the French manager seems to have been encouraged by the conversation and the two are said to be heading towards an verbal agreement. It further states that even though a January move for the player may seem too early, the Gunners are still said to be ready to test the waters with a £28 million offer in January.
Such a move clearly seems unlikely to happen during this window as Wenger has recently stated that he is unlikely to make any significant additions this winter.
On paper Pjanic seems to be an ideal replacement for Wenger as these two certainly share similar qualities but a move even in the summer seems unlikely to happen as Wenger has brought in Xhaka and Elneny over the last two windows for the same position. Further more the boss has clearly stated of his desire to offer Santi an extension for the next season at least .
Moreover Pjanc arrived only last summer and on a 5-year-contract so there seems to be very little reason for them to sell a player whom they value highly and have paid a large sum of money for. Given their cash reserves any offer to convince them would have to be very high and Arsenal are not a club to overpay the odds to get their man.
Given the fact that Jacks on loan, Ramsey is unable to break into the team regularly and Xhaka is clearly starting to find his feet as a deep lying play-maker, so even if Santi leaves the signing of another player of the similar mould would certainly seem gratuitous and uncalled for.
