Arsenal have made an opening €20m bid for Lazio forward Joaquin Correa, according to reports in Italy.

According to Il Messaggero and La Repubblica (via Football-Italia), Arsenal have made a €20m (£17.2m) opening bid for Joaquin Correa.

Calciomercato add that more is needed, with Lazio only willing to entertain a sale for €30m (£25.8m). But Correa isn’t seen as an untouchable member of the squad, like Luis Alberto or Immobile, for example. They’re willing to negotiate for the right price.

A first glance at Correa’s stats aren’t entirely convincing. He’s often listed as a “centre-forward”, and he has 11 goals and five assists in 38 appearances this season, no more than Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Alexandre Lacazette this season.

But there’s more to the forward than that. He’s more of a wide forward or a second striker than a pure centre-forward, and would likely start out on the left for Arsenal.

He progresses the ball really well with his passing and dribbling, and he’s involved in a large number of chances even when he doesn’t get goals and assists directly.

The Argentine international could help to free up Aubameyang to stay in central areas and return to form. But it sounds like Arsenal still have a way to go to find an agreement with Lazio.