The reason Arsenal transfer target Dusan Vlahovic missed Juventus game against Atalanta

Today at 02:44 AM

Juventus manager Thiago Motta refused to be drawn on the future of Dusan Vlahovic after the Arsenal transfer target missed last night’s game against Atalanta.

The Italian giants are on the verge of agreeing a deal for Paris Saint-Germain misfit Randal Kolo Muani in an attempt to add more firepower to their forward line.

In order to free up a space in their squad, Juventus are said to be willing to listen to offers for Vlahovic who has struggled to win the faith of Motta since his appointment in the summer.

Vlahovic’s absence from a 1-1 draw against Atalanta only served to fuel speculation that the former Fiorentina, who has again been linked with Arsenal, star is likely to be on the move in what remains of the January transfer window and Motta refused to confirm the 24-year-old would return for this weekend’s game against Milan.

‘I do not talk about the transfer market,’ said Motta when asking about the Serbia international’s future.

‘Dusan is recovering, he is not at 100 per cent and we cannot risk losing him for longer, so we'll see what happens over the next three days.’

Arsenal’s need for a new forward was already a priority, even before confirmation of Gabriel Jesus sustaining a season ending knee injury arrived on Tuesday.

Mikel Arteta is left with only Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard as options to play up front against Tottenham this evening with Jesus set to undergo surgery before embarking on another lengthy spell of rehabilitation.

‘We know more now and it’s not looking at all,’ said Arteta at his pre-match press conference. ‘We need to review with one more specialist, so we will probably have better information this afternoon.

‘I don't want to confirm anything until we've had the final report this afternoon. It's the doctor's job to do that, but we were very worried straight away after the game and we are very worried today.’

Asked if Jesus’s setback would force Arsenal into the market, he added: ‘My answer doesn’t change, it remains the same – we are actively looking in the market to improve the squad, and that's been the same since day one.

‘It would be naive not to do that because it is always an opportunity to evolve the team and improve the squad, especially with the circumstances. So yes, we are looking and we are trying and let’s see what we are able to do.’

The sudden departure of former sporting director Edu has led to suggestions that his club will find it harder to do deals this month while the search for a permanent replacement continues, but Arteta is adamant the Arsenal house remains in order.

He said: ‘No, it's completely fielded by Jason [Ayto] and obviously all the team that is behind it and we're in constant communication on the role. We're continuing to drive the same way, the same process that we had before, and Jason is in charge of that.’

Havertz is likely to be given the nod and retain his starting spot against Tottenham despite enduring a nightmare week which culminated in his decisive penalty miss against Manchester United in last weekend’s FA Cup third round defeat.

Calling for a sense of perspective and calm, Arteta said: ‘In terms of the cause, it's very easy.

‘When you look at the last 10 years, any player in Europe apart from [Cristiano] Ronaldo and [Lionel] Messi] had expected goals and finishing qualities, there is not a single player there that has been on that expected goals level, it's very volatile.

‘Expected goals and goals is a very volatile thing. You want to have the ambition to be there and score a lot of goals, so make sure that you are prepared to be volatile, even though you could go on and be a defender.

‘That's part of your job, volatility in expected goals and goals is really high. There's a lot of smoke, a lot of things that you cannot control.

‘So, the only thing that's better is increasing probabilities, more expected goals, more situations, be there more, then it's high. The finishing quality, every single player apart from those two [Ronaldo and Messi] is up and down.’