Di Marzio: Vlahović not picking up Arsenal’s phone calls

Like any reasonable Fiorentina fan, my biggest fear is Dušan Vlahović holding the club hostage for a move to the hated Juventus. Unfortunately, this is backed up by what Mike is hearing. So, at this point, it’s really a waiting game to see if Joe Barone and Daniele Pradè can get Dušan out of Florence for a reasonable price to any city other than Turin.

Not to be the bearer of bad news, but given recent reports by Gianluca di Marzio on the situation, Vlahović’s agent, Darko Ristic is not responding to phone calls from Arsenal attempting to sell them on the Gooners’ project. While Mikel Arteta and co. started the season poorly, there’s a real positivity around the club’s young core right now, and a front four of Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith-Rowe and Vlahović is a scary thought. Vlahović not responding to those calls, however, is even scarier. Arsenal are one of the wealthiest clubs in the world, and if Vlahović is refusing to speak to them then who is on his list?

Fellow tier 1 source Fabrizio Romano weighed in on the situation, confirming that there are no talks between Vlahović’s agents and Arsenal.

While some are using this as evidence that Di Marzio was wrong, both in his initial reporting that Arsenal is willing to bid €80 million and the recent phone-call controversy, nothing Romano says here disproves that. Considering that Di Marzio was the first to break all four of our major incoming transfers this summer, I’m going to trust him with all things Fiorentina-related until he gets something wrong. And with that in mind, I’m worried that Vlahović really is going to go scorched-earth and force a move to Juve. In the mean-time, we need to take advantage of having such a talented striker on our roster, and get to Europe with the right backing in January.

Post-publication note:

Arsenal Tier 1 source Charles Watts has gone on the record and said there are no negotiations between Arsenal and Fiorentina for Vlahović at this time. This makes the whole situation a lot murkier, but I’m happy because this would mean there’s less of a chance he goes to Juve.