Newcastle United

Newcastle United

Premier League • England

Newcastle ‘dream’ of succeeding where Arsenal failed by signing top Juventus star; shock swap deal mooted

Dusan Vlahovic and Manuel Locatelli

Newcastle have been linked with a fanciful swoop for Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, whom Arsenal failed to sign in the January transfer window.

Arsenal were looking to replace Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with Vlahovic, who was playing for Fiorentina at the time. They also knew they needed to find a successor to Alexandre Lacazette, given the fact the Frenchman was the wrong side of 30.

However, Arsenal were beaten to Vlahovic by Juventus. They spent £66.6million to sign the Serbian from Fiorentina, according to Sky Sports.

And Vlahovic later explained that he joined Juve because he couldn’t reject a club of their size and history.

Following the departures of Aubameyang and Lacazette, Arsenal did eventually get their new striker. They parted with £45m to capture Gabriel Jesus from Premier League rivals Manchester City.

His signing, as well as that of Oleksandr Zinchenko, has been very successful. So successful in fact, that City will no longer sell senior players to the Gunners.

In September, Arsenal were tipped to go back on the hunt for Vlahovic. However, they are yet to make a second approach for him and now the 22-year-old could end up joining another English club.

According to Italian source CalcioMercatoWeb, Newcastle ‘dream’ of landing Vlahovic.

Newcastle want to sign Juventus ace

Juve have had a sluggish start to the season and are behind Napoli and AC Milan in the Serie A table. Newcastle hope this will help them prize Vlahovic away from Turin.

The report even brings up the possibility of Newcastle using a swap deal to land Vlahovic. They state Magpies chiefs could send recent record signing Alexander Isak to Juve, with Vlahovic going in the other direction.

Newcastle signing the 17-cap international, when Arsenal failed to do so, would embarrass the Gunners and also show just how far Newcastle have come since their takeover.

But this transfer is incredibly likely. Even the original report suggests there is little chance of Newcastle pulling off such a coup.

First of all, Vlahovic only wants to play for the most illustrious teams in Europe. While Newcastle are on an upward trajectory, they are some way off that level right now. So the goalscorer wouldn’t want to join Newcastle.

The proposed swap deal is also ridiculous. There would be no point in the Magpies letting Isak go and bringing in another £60m or so striker as his replacement.

This would confuse and also anger fans, as Isak was impressive in a Newcastle shirt before his hamstring injury.

If Juve’s struggles continue, Vlahovic could end up leaving for another club. But it is highly unlikely this will be Newcastle.

Instead, there is more chance of him going to Man Utd. The Red Devils need to replace Cristiano Ronaldo after his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan, and Vlahovic could be a great striker signing.

Meanwhile, Newcastle are involved in a battle with Liverpool and Arsenal for the signature of a French attacker.