Arsenal are in talks to sign Juventus defender Daniele Rugani but his £40m valuation remains a stumbling block, reports the London Evening Standard.
Unai Emery is desperate to bolster his defensive options before the transfer window for English clubs shuts on Thursday but faces a race against the clock to get a deal over the line.
Arsenal have already signed Saint-Etienne centre-back William Saliba this summer but have loaned the teenager back to the French side for the upcoming season.
The Gunners are now in talks to sign Rugani from Juventus but the Serie A outfit are holding out for £40m for the Italy international.
Rugani has been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League for a number of years after failing to break into the Juventus first-team on a regular basis.
Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini have proved immovable figures in the Juventus defence down the years and the Serie A champions signed Ajax captain Matthijs de Ligt earlier this summer.
Facing the prospect of very little game time this season, Arsenal are trying to hand Rugani a route out of Juventus but may not have the finances available to broker a deal.
The 25-year-old has only managed more than 20 league starts in a single campaign for Juventus once in his career.
Rugani managed only 15 league starts last season but Juventus had a significantly better win ratio in those matches (80%) compared to the 23 games he did not start (69.6%).
