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Football London
Football London
Sport
Louie Chandler

Luka Modric's five-word verdict that should convince Arsenal to land Dusan Vlahovic alternative

With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's time at the Emirates Stadium seemingly coming to an imminent end - along with Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah - Arsenal are unsurprisingly looking to bring in a new striker this month.

Fiorentina star Dusan Vlahovic appeared to be their top choice, but the Serbian now looks set to join Italian giants Juventus instead.

Alexander Isak was another option, football.london understands, although a significant release clause would likely need to be paid in order to land the highly-rated Sweden marksman.

What happens now remains to be seen, with less than a week left of the January transfer window. So if Arsenal are going to make a new striker signing, they will have to move quickly.

Ahead of those final days, football.london understands that Mikel Arteta had been invited to America by Gunners owner Stan Kroenke.

The latest marksman to be linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium is Real Madrid man Luka Jovic, who is understood to have been offered to the Gunners this window.

Still only 24 years old, the Serbia striker has failed to hit the heights expected of him following his £56million move from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer of 2019.

He has made just 47 appearances in the time since, scoring just three goals for Los Blancos - a disappointing return having netted 40 times in 93 appearances in Germany.

So, why would Arsenal move for a striker whose record is anything but spectacular and likely low on confidence?

Real Madrid star Luka Modric has provided one reason.

In December, the Croatia captain praised Jovic's professionalism after he was brought on from the bench to score and assist in a 2-0 win against Real Sociedad, after Karim Benzema suffered an injury.

Modric spoke highly of Jovic's professionalism after full-time, issuing a five-word verdict that "we can count on him".

"He put in a very good performance. He provided an assist and scored after having gone a long time without playing. He showed that we can count on him. We’re very pleased with his performance and his goal,” he said.

They are comments that are only likely to make Jovic more appealing to Arteta.

The Spaniard has shown how highly he values professionalism - most starkly in his decision to strip Aubameyang of the club captaincy following a late return from a trip away - and that is likely to be a character trait eyed in any potential deal.

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