Juventus are insisting on a straight sale in talks with Arsenal over Daniele Rugani.

The London Evening Standard says Arsenal's pursuit of a centre-back continued on Wednesday as the club were locked in talks with Juventus over the signing of Rugani.

Juventus are willing to part with Rugani after landing Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax but are holding out for a fee of around £40million.

The Gunners believe the 25-year-old is keen on a move to north London with reports in Italy suggesting a basic wage of £70,000-a-week has already been agreed but that was yet to confirmed as of Tuesday morning.

Arsenal have committed a large portion of their summer transfer budget already and are keen to explore a loan deal with a view to buy or staggering payments in a permanent deal as they did in the £72m acquisition of Nicolas Pepe from Lille.