Arsenal have scouted Nicolo Barella again, this time watching him against Juventus in Cagliari’s match on Tuesday night.

Arsenal already had scouts watch the Cagliari midfielder Nicolo Barella face Inter Milan in a 2-1 win at the end of February, according to reports in Italy. He missed a penalty in that game despite an otherwise solid performance.

https://twitter.com/NicoSchira/status/1112779439761391617

The Gunners have been scouting the Italy international for a while now, and Barella himself even spoke about the rumours in October, saying the outside interest made him “proud”.

In January, reports suggested Chelsea had withdrawn from the race to sign him and Napoli were Arsenal’s “main challenger” for Barella’s signature. Both clubs were expected to make a move in summer, rather than the winter window, which appears to be how things have panned out.

With 89 Serie A appearances for Cagliari, seven goals, three assists and five caps for his country (with one goal scored against Finland during the most recent international break), Barella has made an impressive start to his career.

Barella is under contract until 2022 and is valued at around £27m.