Arsenal dealt transfer blow over £3m Spanish international striker

Arsenal have been handed a transfer blow in their pursuit of Spanish striker Fernando Llorente.

The Athletic Bilbao star is out of contract at the end of the season, and has been heavily linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium in recent months. Manchester City and Chelsea have also been tracking the player, according to reports.

However, Metro cite Italian reports when claiming that Juventus have made a £3 million offer to bring the player to Serie ‘A’, and that negotiations could be concluded by the weekend.

The paper goes on to claim that the 27-year-old’s desire to play in Italy has proved to be a decisive factor, and that Bilbao are ready to cash in rather than lose the player for nothing when the current La Liga campaign concludes.

It’s another transfer blow for Gunners chief Arsene Wenger, with targets Demba Ba, David Villa and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar all unavailable to the north London outfit.

However, the Arsenal boss has today admitted an interest in Napoli star Edinson Cavani, whilst Atletico Madrid star Adrian Lopez has also been linked.

The Gunners have two weeks left to complete their transfer business in January, whilst securing the future of Theo Walcott is another issue on the club’s agenda.