JUVENTUS rejected a bid in excess of 25.5million from Leicester for defender Merih Demiral, according to reports.
The Foxes are thought to have tabled the bid to Juve chief Fabio Paratici in the opening days of the January transfer window as they look to bolster their back line.
Brendan Rodgers already has in-form duo Jonny Evans and Caglar Soyuncu as his regular Premier League starters with Wes Morgan and Filip Benkovic also at his disposal.
But the idea of bringing in Demiral is unsurprisingly appealing, as the 21-year-old has already started forming a partnership with Soyuncu in the Turkey national team.
But according to reports in Italy, Juventus are unwilling to let him go for that price.
It is also understood that Borussia Dortmund submitted an offer of their own, thought to be for a total of 34m.
And the latest developments appear to have pushed Arsenal back in their attempts to land the young defender.
The Gunners were previously thought to be leading the chase – especially with Calum Chambers out for the season – while Manchester United have also been keeping an eye on him.
Demiral joined Juventus from Sassuolo in the summer for around 15m but has made just three Serie A appearances for the Old Lady, including the final two before the Christmas break.
He initially struggled for minutes as Maurizio Sarri stuck with Leonardo Bonucci and Matthijs de Ligt at the heart of his defence.
But Demiral was selected for the Suppercoppa Italiano defeat to Lazio on December 22 with De Ligt dropped to the bench.
Leicester and Arsenal have both also been linked with Demiral’s club team-mate Daniele Rugani, with the 2016 Prem champions understood to have overtaken Arsenal in the race for the Italian.
