Former Arsenal star and Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has criticised Dusan Vlahovic for rejecting a move to the Premier League.
The recently concluded January transfer window was a rather disappointing one for north London clubs. While Tottenham had to settle for deadline day signings of Juventus duo of Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski, their cross-town rivals Arsenal failed to sign a single star player.
One thing the two teams had in common was the keen interest in Dusan Vlahovic. Indeed, both the north London giants were prepared to make a move for the Fiorentina striker, with Arsenal, in particular, desperate for a new number nine. However, the youngster’s representatives kept stalling on a move, even though Arsenal’s bid was accepted, and they eventually forced a move to Juventus.
Former Arsenal professional and Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has recently had his say on the transfer saga. “They wanted Vlahovic and he chose to go to Juventus,” he told Sky Sports, as quoted by football.london.
“For me, I think he took the easy way out, going to a team who were great and now fourth/fifth in the Italian league and a million miles away,” said Merson, who was a two-time English champion with Arsenal back in 1989 and 1991, shortly before the rebranding of the Premier League.
Arsenal’s failure to land Vlahovic in January was followed by the deadline day departure of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, rubbing further salt into the wounds. The Gunners predictably failed to sign a replacement and are now left with Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah as the only two options in the striking department.
Merson believes it could certainly hurt their chances of finishing in the top four come May, adding, “For me, if they’d got him they’d be a shoo-in for the Champions League, now they’ve got to do their own work again and they’ve put all their eggs in one basket.”
Vlahovic, though, will be extremely happy with the decision of joining Juventus, as he has already enjoyed a brisk start to his life in Turin. The Serb has netted two goals in two matches, including a late winner against Sassuolo earlier in the week.
The former Fiorentina starlet will be aiming to maintain his scoring record when Juventus lock horns with Atalanta in Bergamo this weekend.