According to his agent, Arsenal bid £30m for the services of Daniele Rugani during the summer despite the player only being worth £10.6m now.

FLORENCE, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 04: Daniele Rugani of Italy poses during the official portrait session at Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano on September 4, 2018 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
FLORENCE, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 04: Daniele Rugani of Italy poses during the official portrait session at Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano on September 4, 2018 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)

There were a number of rumours linking Arsenal with a move for Juventus’ centreback, Daniele Rugani, a player who has been touted for a move to Arsenal for a number of seasons now.

According to his agent, Arsenal, along with Chelsea, bid £30m for the player who was also linked with a swap deal involving Hector Bellerin.

Speaking on TMW radio, Davide Torcha said, “At the time, Arsenal, Napoli, Chelsea, Zenit and Lyon arrived at around €30m and [they] were never taken into consideration. For those prices, Juve did not sell him, and I do not dispute whether they did right or wrong.

“With Sarri at Chelsea, then there was an offer close to 40 million, and Juve said no there too. Also because they needed to understand who the substitute is and how much it costs. Now he has gone away on an onerous loan, and that’s the market.

Rennes' Italian defender Daniele Rugani (L) and Rennes' Malian defender Hamari Traore (R) fight for the ball with Dijon's French forward Mounir Chouiar (C) during the French L1 football match between Dijon (DFCO) and Rennes (MHSC) on October 16, 2020, at the Gaston Gerard stadium in Dijon. (Photo by JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK / AFP)
Rennes’ Italian defender Daniele Rugani (L) and Rennes’ Malian defender Hamari Traore (R) fight for the ball with Dijon’s French forward Mounir Chouiar (C) during the French L1 football match between Dijon (DFCO) and Rennes (MHSC) on October 16, 2020, at the Gaston Gerard stadium in Dijon. (Photo by JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK / AFP)

“Many then criticised the excessive salaries, 3-4 million, but it is not true. Instead of taking the bait, you listen to certain serious broadcasts like this and maybe something comes out…”

Rugani is now on loan with Stade Rennais for the season after only making 14 appearances last season (averaging 75 minutes per game), 10 of which were in Serie A.

This is Rugani’s third loan spell of his career. He first joined Juventus on loan from Empoli in 2012 before they purchased him permanently in 2015 and immediately returned him to Empoli on loan the following day.

Now aged 26, Rugani is valued at around £10.6m so quite why Juventus would refuse such large offers from so many clubs when they clearly don’t want him is anyone’s guess. His highest ever value was just under £20m that held from 2017 to the summer of 2019. That number has been on a steady decline ever since.

It reported in 2019 that Arsenal had reached an agreement with Daniele Rugani for his signature but, again, Juventus wouldn’t accept what the Gunners were offering.