Arsenal had a second bid for Daniele Rugani rejected in January and have been told by Juventus that he is not for sale, according to reports
According to CalcioMercato, Juventus turned down an offer of around €30 million for centre back Daniele Rugani in January, which is not the first time the Italian Serie A side have rejected a bid from the Gunners for the 22-year old.
Arsenal made a similar offer for Rugani back in the summer but were rebuffed by Juventus even then. According to CalcioMercato, they have been told not to bother putting in another bid as Rugani is not for sale.
They state that Rugani – along with Mattia Caldara – is seen as the future of the team and Juventus will not sell to any buyer regardless of the price as they consider the 22-year old Italian International as “untouchable.”
Rugani was signed by Juventus on loan from Empoli back in 2012 for a €150,000 fee and impressed with the Bianconeri’s youth side, prompting Juve to buy co-ownership rights from Empoli for a fee of €500,000.
He then spent two seasons on loan with Empoli and was impressive once again for the Italian side, prompting Juve to Juventus buy out the remaining half of Rugani’s registration rights from Empoli for an additional €3.5 million.
Despite being just 22, Rugani has already shown that he has the potential to grow into one of the finest defenders in the world. Such is his promise that Antonio Conte named Rugani as one of his three reserves for the Euro 2016 tournament, despite Italy having an abundance of options at centre back to choose from.
A tall, strong centre back who is renowned for his tactical versatility and ability to read the game, Rugani has been praised for his intelligence, marking, concentration and anticipation. Although Rugani is not particularly quick, he makes up for it with his intelligence – similar to Arsenal’s Per Mertesacker.
He also has good ability on the ball and often plays the ball out from defence, even striding forward at times to aid the attack. This is definitely one quality that would have made Arsene Wenger sit up and take notice, given his preference for ball-playing centre backs.
Despite only making 11 appearances in the Serie A this season – 3 of which have come as a substitute – Rugani has slotted into the side seamlessly when called upon. This season, he is averaging 1.12 tackles won, 1.68 interceptions, 0.34 blocks and an impressive 5.05 clearances per 90 minutes, according to Squawka.
Despite rumours of Arsene Wenger’s departure, it is clear that Rugani has been on Arsenal’s radar for some time. With his current manager Massimiliano Allegri also rumoured to be in the running for the job next season, should Wenger depart, this might not be the last we see of this story.
