Report: Juventus set to miss out on Arsenal wantaway in favor of Serie A rivals | OneFootball

Juventus are reportedly trailing in the race for Arsenal defender Jakub Kiwior who is seemingly closer to joining Napoli in January.

The Bianconeri are searching the market for a new defender after losing Gleison Bremer to a devasting ACL injury, but so are the Partenopei who never had much depth at the back to begin with.

Therefore, the two clubs’ sights have landed on a few common targets, including Paris Saint-Germain wantaway Milan Skriniar as well as Kiwior who is growing frustrated with his situation at Arsenal.

The Polish defender currently finds himself behind the likes of Gabriel, Willian Saliba and Riccardo Calafiori in Mikel Arteta’s pecking order, with playing time hard to come by.

So according to Neapolitan newspaper Il Mattino (via JuventusNews24), Kiwior has informed the Gunners of his intention to leave the club as early as January.

The source adds that the Poland international is eager to return to Italian football where he made his breakthrough with Spezia before sealing a move to the North London giants in January 2023. The defender could even make a permanent transfer to the Stadio Maradona.

The report adds that the player has expressed his openness to join the Southern Italian sides and fight for a starting place in Antonio Conte’s lineup. His main competitors would be the club’s long-serving stalwart Amir Rrahmani and summer signing Alessandro Buongiorno.

For their part, Juventus have been linked with the player partially due to his old bond with Thiago Motta who was his manager during his time at Spezia. Nevertheless, it seems that the Old Lady is currently primarily focused on landing Benfica youngster Antonio Silva.

As reported earlier today, the Portuguese’s agent Jorge Mendes is in Turin, as crucial talks with the club’s directors are expected to take place in the coming days.