Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano has told Arsenal why they should make a move for a Serie A midfielder, although he probably won’t be moving until summer 2023.

Arsenal have been linked with several midfielders amid Mikel Arteta’s hunt to bolster the position. Youri Tielemans is a long-term target for the Gunners, but they are yet to make a concrete approach to land him.

Arsenal have begun talks with Palmeiras over the signing of 21-year-old Brazilian Danilo. He insists he is ‘ready’ for such a big transfer, while also revealing his good relationship with two Arsenal players.

On Wednesday, reports raised the possibility of Arsenal going after Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. It’s unclear whether he would be signed alongside or instead of Danilo, though.

The 27-year-old, who is currently at the World Cup with Serbia, has long been on Manchester United’s radar. But with Erik ten Hag fully focused on landing a new attacker, the Red Devils could lose out on Milinkovic-Savic to Arsenal.

Romano has now given his information on the latest transfer rumour. While Milinkovic-Savic is unlikely to exit Lazio this winter, Arsenal have been told his signing would be a ‘fantastic’ piece of transfer business.

“I’m told there were no talks for Milinkovic to Arsenal in the summer,” Romano said during an interview with CaughtOffside.

“We will see what happens in the future but in January it’s going to be really difficult to see him leaving.

Star labelled ‘underrated’ amid Arsenal rumours

“I think he’d be an excellent option for any English club. Fantastic, underrated midfielder.”

Milinkovic-Savic is certainly one of the best midfielders playing in the Italian top flight. He is hugely influential for Lazio, having captained them in the weeks just before the World Cup.

He also gets among the goals, registering five strikes and seven assists in 20 club matches so far this season.

Arteta could probably do with a new midfielder joining given Thomas Partey’s injury problems. Plus, Mohamed Elneny is now 30 and Albert Sambi Lokonga has failed to impress.

Milinkovic-Savic would be a brilliant signing for Arsenal. And he would immediately solve Arteta’s midfield headache.

However, there is one big obstacle which may prevent his transfer to north London from going through next summer.

Arsenal may struggle to complete Sergej Milinkovic-Savic deal

That is Lazio’s huge asking price. They have no intention of letting Milinkovic-Savic go at any point and may demand as much €100million for him. That works out at £86.2m currently. transfermarkt, meanwhile, value him at €60m (£51m).

Arsenal have decent spending power. This is shown by them parting with £118m to sign five players in the summer. This included the £45m capture of Gabriel Jesus from Man City.

Despite this, Arsenal will still struggle to spend over £80m on one player. They do not have the finances available to them like City and Newcastle do. So spending so much on Milinkovic-Savic may prevent Arteta from improving other positions.

Perhaps it may be a good idea for Arsenal to move away from Milinkovic-Savic and instead prioritise Danilo, as well as Tielemans.

Danilo is coming from a Brazilian club so should not cost a huge fee. And Tielemans will be available for a cut-price sum in January due to his Leicester deal running down.

Meanwhile, Thursday’s Transfer Gossip includes an Arsenal-linked winger gunning for a new contract at his current club.

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