Arsenal have had an offer rejected by Juventus for Daniele Rugani, according to reports in England. The Gunners wanted the 25-year-old on a two-year loan but Juve seem keen to keep the Italian international.
The centre-back is down the pecking order at the Bianconeri following the arrival of Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax but fans on Twitter don’t seem to be too unhappy about Arsenal missing out on the defender:
Rugani is an ever so slightly lanky version of Mustafi.
No difference to Chambers almost.
— M (@mg_eleven20) 2 August 2019
Now go all out for umtiti
— Ismeey (@ismeey_m) 3 August 2019
thank you juve! rugani sucks
— It's Always Eboue (@ArsenalANewDawn) 3 August 2019
Hopefully Arsenal comes back with a 1 yr loan + buy with a little bigger fee. Just to see if Juve bites. But I love that we’re pushing like this.
— WreckEmTech (@Guns_Up_TTU) 2 August 2019
At least it shows we are seriously working on a top CB.
— Olugbenga Olawoye (@guzelaw) 2 August 2019
Thank you Juve.
— I LUV THIS GAME (@WidePlaymaking) 2 August 2019
unlikley to improve the defense..has yet to prove himself similar to Calum Chambers
— ☥ (@M_Sceptre) 2 August 2019
Thank God.
— Installment FC ⚙ (@PrettyBoyKely) 2 August 2019
We just sold Krystian Bielik for £10m.. same money can get us Pape Abou Cisse. Who is far better than Rugani in my opinion.
— aaron moses (@pastures77) 2 August 2019
It’s likely that manager Maurizio Sarri may have something to do with Juventus refusing to offload Rugani. The former Chelsea head coach was manager at Empoli when the defender came through the ranks at the club.
He gave the Italian his senior debut back in 2013 in a Coppa Italia second-round match against Sudtirol. Rugani then went on to make 81 appearances for the Azzurri before he was sold to Juve for £4.5m in the 2015 winter transfer window.
Since then, he has become a regular starter for the Serie A champions and got his first senior cap for Italy back in 2016.