Arsenal have made an ‘important’ bid for Italy midfielder Manuel Locatelli, according to Sassuolo CEO Giovanni Carnevali.
The London side expressed interest in signing the player earlier in the month and have now contacted Sassuolo with an official bid, according to Carnevali.
He told Sky Sport Italia: ‘Arsenal have made an official bid for Locatelli. They’re pushing hard to sign Manuel and it’s an important bid… we will see.
‘Also Juventus want Locatelli and we’ve a special relationship with them. We’ve a new meeting scheduled with Juve.
‘We are trying to leave the lad calm, so I haven’t spoken to him or his agents yet. We can think about Locatelli’s future, but above all we care about his present and that means Italy doing well at the Euros.’
Locatelli has established himself as one of Sassuolo’s most important players over the last two years, with his form also attracting huge interest from Serie A club Juventus.
The midfielder has played in three of Italy’s four Euro 2020 matches to date, helping Roberto Mancini’s team go past the group stages and into the quarter-finals of the European tournament.
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Arsenal’s move for Locatelli comes as they close in on a deal for Portuguese left-back Nuno Tavares and make progress with Anderlecht star Sambi Lokonga.
Locatelli, who scored a brace for Italy during their recent victory over Switzerland, will hope to impress again on Friday against Belgium.
If Mancini’s side eliminate the Belgians, they will face either Switzerland or Spain in the semi-finals and could play England in the final after the Three Lions beat Germany to book a place in the last-eight.
