Arsenal are about to put in a £28m bid for Miralem Pjanic.
According to a report in The Sun the Juventus midfielder was phoned by Arsene Wenger and reacted enthusiastically to the prospect of a move to London.
Claims that another manager has spoken directly with one of their players is bound to anger Juventus who signed Pjaca from Dinamo Zagreb in the summer of 2014.
Wenger is usually reluctant to do business in January but with no sign of a breakthrough in contract talks with Mesut Ozil and doubts over the fitness of Santi Cazorla the Arsenal boss is preparing to bid for Pjanic.
The 21-year-old has only made eight first team appearances for Juventus but the Turin side are in no rush to sell players.
Arsenal would need to bid over £30m to get round the table with Juventus but having spoken to the player directly Wenger may sanction a deal.