Juventus join race for Arsenal man as deal for Liverpool target stalls

Juventus are contemplating a late bid to sign Inter Milan target Shkodran Mustafi – if Schalke don’t accept their offer for top target Benedikt Howedes.

Germany defender Howedes, 29, has been on Schalke’s books since the age of 16, but his agent has revealed the player has agreed personal terms with Juventus as they look to him as a replacement for Leonardo Bonucci, who joined AC Milan earlier this summer.

Howedes – who is also a long-term target for Liverpool – is surplus to requirements at the Veltins Arena after being stripped of the captaincy by new coach Domenico Tedesco.

However, Juventus’ hopes of signing him on the cheap appear doomed to failure with Schalke sporting executive Christian Heidel telling Kicker: “Yes, there was an offer from Juventus, but I won’t go into details.

“I don’t know if there’ll be another offer and I won’t ask Juve if they’ll call us again.”

Kicker suggest Juventus will up their offer to €18million, though that is again not high enough to convince them to sell.

Alternatively, Tuttosport suggest Juventus will challenge Inter Milan for the signing of Mustafi, with the Arsenal man left out of their squad for Sunday’s 4-0 thumping at Liverpool.

Mustafi looks set to leave the Emirates after just one season, having cost Arsenal £35million from Valencia last summer.

Inter are favourites to sign him, but Luciano Spalletti’s side have also lined up Man City’s Eliaquim Mangala as an alternative should that deal fail.

Schalke rule out move for Chelsea man

Heidel, meanwhile, has also confirmed that Schalke will not sign Chelsea full-back Baba Rahman.

The Ghana international spent last season on loan at Schalke but sustained a severe knee injury while at the African Nations Cup earlier this year.

“We won’t sign him. It’s connected to his health situation,” Heidel said in kicker, which reported that Rahman might require another operation before returning to the pitch.

“That’s why we’ve agreed to wait,” Heidel said.