Arsenal afforded dream opening as reduced fee for world-class midfielder has Arteta purring

Arsenal are now in ‘pole position’ to sign one of their key targets, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, according to reports.

Mikel Arteta is allegedly focusing on attacking options at the moment, but with Lazio now willing to accept a reduced transfer fee in January, the Gunners may take the opportunity to sign the Serbian while they can.

With Arsenal flying high at the top of the Premier League table, the 27-year-old midfielder is keen on the move, so we could see him join the North London club in the near future.

The Gunners continued their fine start to the Premier League campaign with an impressive 3-1 win over West Ham yesterday, moving seven points clear at the top of the league.

Arsenal will see this as a fantastic opportunity to lift their first league title since 2004, so they will be looking to add as much quality as they can this winter.

An injury to striker Gabriel Jesus has meant that attacking options are the priority for the Gunners and they have recently been considering a move for Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix.

However, with their main man in midfield Thomas Partey being prone to the occasional injury, some world-class cover in the middle of the park wouldn’t go amiss.

According to the Daily Express, Arsenal have been scouting Lazio’s central midfielder Milinkovic-Savic for a couple of months now and are one of the most interested parties for his signature.

The Serbian was the subject of plenty of enquiries in the summer but made it clear that he wanted to join a side playing in the Champions League.

Milinkovic-Savic eyeing switch to Premier League leaders

While this is not currently the case for Arsenal, with them being top of the league, it is believed that Milinkovic-Savic is now keen on a move to the Emirates.

Since joining Lazio in 2015, the midfielder has become a consistently top performer, garnering interest from several big European clubs.

Overall, Milinkovic-Savic has made 314 appearances for the Biancocelesti, contributing an impressive 63 goals and 58 assists overall.

He has enjoyed some success with the club, too, lifting the two Italian Super Cups and one Copa Italia.

Understandably, Lazio are keen to keep hold of Milinkovic-Savic, but with him reportedly willing to run down the remaining 12 months on his contract, the Italian club don’t want to lose him on a free transfer.

As a result, Lazio are willing to listen to offers between £35.2m and £44m for the Serbia international, which is much lower than the £66m that was touted earlier this month.

They will face competition for his signature, though, with Tottenham and Manchester United also reportedly interested.

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