La Viola hitman, Stevan Jovetic, has emerged as one of the world’s most sought after strikers these days and is rumoured to be on the move in the summer, with several European clubs interested in the forward.
And according to the Daily Mail, the 23-year-old has emerged as Arsenal’s number one summer target. The Gunners have been scouting the striker for 18 months and are ready to step up their interest in the Montenegro international with a concrete bid in the summer.
Arsenal have money to burn in the summer, having announced cash reserves of £123.3 million last month, out of which £70 million is to be invested to rejuvenate the squad. Gunners coach, Arsene Wenger, is ready to break the bank in the next window to secure his top target.
Arsenal’s transfer record fee, when compared to other top European clubs, stands at a lowly £15 million when they acquired Andrei Ashravin from Zenit in 2009. Jovetic is valued in excess of £20 million by the Italian club, but Arsenal are ready to stump up that amount.
Jovetic started his career at Partizan and moved to Fiorentina in the summer of 2008. He has since then improved significantly every season, and is linked with a move away from Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Signing Jovetic would certainly send a message to rivals that Wenger is keen on bringing in a striker who shows composure in the box and has a finish to match. The loss of Van Persie has certainly been felt by Arsenal this season as they are languishing in 5th place in the table and out of all cup competitions.
Wenger purchased Giroud to replace Persie, but he has not had a very convincing season so far. There is also little competition in the striking department, with Gervinho having a woeful season and Walcott also not impressing when employed as a lone frontman.
However, Arsenal would need Champions League football to have any chance of landing the star striker, and if they do finish in the top four, the prospect of Jovetic coming to Arsenal seems very probable.