Arsenal have made contact with Juventus over centre-back duo Medhi Benatia and Daniele Rugani, according to reports in Italy.

Calciomercato write that Arsenal are interested in signing both defenders from the Serie A champions, and are in contact with the club over their transfers. However, as we reported on Wednesday, they also point out that Rugani’s agent is claiming Juventus have no interest in selling the 23-year-old.

Benatia, on the other hand, is looking much more likely to leave. The Morocco international only joined Juventus permanently last summer, after a one year loan in Italy. He reportedly doesn’t get along with Max Allegri though, opening the door to a possible exit.

Marseille are also in for the defender, who recently turned 31. It would be surprising to see Arsenal sign three players in their thirties (Lichtsteiner, Sokratis and Benatia), but in a way it makes sense too.

The likes of Hector Bellerin, Calum Chambers, Rob Holding and Konstantinos Mavropanos are still very young, but show a lot of promise for the future. Signing defenders ready to perform immediately could buy the youngsters a couple more years to develop before they take over the starting spots.

We could see progress on this rumour very quickly, if Benatia wants to get his situation sorted before the World Cup. Otherwise we’ll have to wait until Morocco are eliminated from the tournament.