Arsenal’s interest in Stevan Jovetic has been strong and persistent over the past few weeks as manager Arsene Wenger identified the 23-year old as his potential marquee signing of the summer. With huge amounts of money at the club’s disposal, they are now in a financial position to look at purchasing players in the above £20 million bracket, and Wenger feels that the capture of Jovetic will strengthen his squad and will announce the Gunners’ intentions for next season.

The Montenegro striker has enjoyed a fruitful season in front of goal for the Italian club which has seen him score 19 goals in the league this campaign. His red hot form has seen scouts from Arsenal being spotted on numerous occasions watching Jovetic play from the stands, during Fiorentina’s matches. Apart from Arsenal, Italian champions Juventus too are believed to carry a strong interest in signing the striker. They are currently on a massive rebuilding mission and have shortlisted Jovetic as a valuable addition in their bid to strengthen their assault on European competitions.

It looks like Juventus have replaced Arsenal as favorites to land the striker after there was a disagreement over the transfer amount between Arsenal and Fiorentina, who value their star striker at £25 million. However, Arsenal are not willing to up their current bid of £20 million and believe that their offer is more than sufficient, though Fiorentina are themselves refusing to budge from their own valuation.

Therefore DailyMail reports that the negotiations have come to a crashing halt as long as either party will not give in to the other’s demands. In the meantime, Juventus are readily willing to meet Fiorentina’s £25 million asking price. However, they are reluctant to sell their prized asset to a direct competition in the domestic league and instead prefer to sell him abroad.

Also, insiders suggest that Jovetic prefers moving to Juventus rather than going to Arsenal, as a move to England will require him to get used to and adapt to the rigors of a new league altogether.

Therefore the question that now arises is, could the money involved cost Arsenal Stevan Jovetic? The Gunners may need to address this issue sooner rather than later amidst rumours that free-spending Chelsea are now interested in signing Jovetic having just completed a deal for Andre Schurrle finally.