Sassuolo director Giovanni Carnevali has confirmed that Arsenal are indeed interested in signing 23-year-old midfielder, Manuel Locatelli.

On Wednesday, it was reported that Juventus remain the frontrunners for Locatelli’s signature. Arsenal have only ever signed three Italians in their history (Arturo Lupoli, Vito Mannone, Emiliano Viviano) while Italians like to stay in Italy, especially if they can move to a club like Juventus, so none of that is surprising.

Arsenal, however, may not have European football, but they seem to have the €40m cash that Sassuolo want whereas the Old Lady are hoping for a swap deal which does not interest Sassuolo .

Speaking to Sky Sports (via Football Italia), Carnevali said, “We are trying to leave the lad calm, so I haven’t spoken to him or his agents yet. We can think about Locatelli’s future, but above all we care about his present and that means Italy doing well at the Euros.

“Juventus are the only Italian club we talked to about Locatelli. They have interest, we spoke to Cherubini last week. We have not yet discussed the financial details, but we have a good rapport and will talk it over soon.

“It’s true that there are foreign clubs interested, including Arsenal, and so far they are ahead and are the only side realistically to have made an important proposal for Manuel.”

It still seems more likely that Locatelli will end up at Juventus, but you never know.

Reports of Arsenal’s interest in Locatelli pre-date the European Championships, though they’ve certainly been enhanced by his impressive showings at the tournament. The 23-year-old midfielder has scored two goals in his three appearances so far.