Reported Arsenal and Liverpool Target Eljero Elia Set To Join Juventus

Hamburg SV have announced that Dutch winger Eljero Elia has traveled to Italy for a proposed move to Serie A club Juventus.

The Bundesliga club said on Tuesday that Elia, who was with the Netherlands preparing for Friday’s European Championship qualifier against San Marino, left the national team’s training camp to undergo a medical in Turin. The winger also posted “#fly to italia,” on his Twitter account.

Klaus Vink of Fair Deal Sport Management, who look after Elia, toldcalciomercato.com

“We are negotiating with Juventus about the player’s transfer, but there is nothing new at this moment. There are a number of things that need to be discussed and we’ll take all of the time that is needed.”

However, the player himself had admitted that a move to the English Premier League would be a dream come true.

“I was told that racism is fashionable on the Italian stadiums and that most teams play very defensively. These issues play an important role in my decision. My style of play would fit more in Premier League,” the player was quoted saying earlier.

Elia was a transfer target of many big European clubs including Arsenal and Liverpool. Media reports say Hamburg turned down an offer of €8 million from a ‘big’ club two weeks ago and are only willing to let Elia go for €10 million.

Juventus have yet to confirm the arrival of Elia, but they are expected to release an official statement shortly. Juventus have already brought the likes of Reto Ziegler, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal and Mirko Vucinic to the club over the summer.