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Juventus have snubbed Arsenal’s loan bid for defender Daniele Rugani.
The Gunners wanted to take the Italian international on a two year loan deal, but the Serie A champions have rejected their offer, leaving Unai Emery with a defensive problem ahead of the new season.
Whilst the team has been strengthened in midfield and attack by the arrival of record signing Nicolas Pépé and the loan deal for Real Madrid’s Dani Ceballos, defence remains the Achilles heel of the side, and they are running out of time to find suitable reinforcements, especially after reports emerged that left-back target Kiernan Tierney may miss eight weeks of the new season with injury.
There was some good news for Arsenal on the defensive front. 23 year old Rob Holding – picked by many as a future captain of the club – made his first competitive appearance in a behind closed doors friendly against a Watford XI on Saturday. It was the first time that the England under-21 international had kicked a ball in anger since suffering a serious ACL injury playing against Manchester United last December. He managed 60 minutes in Arsenal’s 6 – 1 win before he was substituted as a precaution.
However, he is not pencilled in for a first team return until mid-September.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.