Arsenal transfer news: Gunners have not made a £56m offer for Torino striker Andrea Belotti despite claims in Italy

Arsenal deny Torino director Gianluca Petrachi's claim that they have offered €65m to sign the Italian international

Arsenal have denied offering Torino £56m for striker Andrea Belotti (Getty)

Arsenal have not made a €65m offer for Italian striker Andrea Belotti, even though Torino claim that they have rejected such a bid from the Premier League club.

Torino director Gianluca Petrachi caused a stir among Arsenal supporters by claiming that the Italian club rejected a £56m approach from the Gunners for their 23-year-old forward, who has already scored 13 goals in Serie A this season.

But The Independent understands that Arsenal have not made such an offer, even though it is not clear if Petrachi was referring to the summer or winter transfer window. Arsenal are not expecting any new arrivals in January, especially one that would break the club record transfer fee that currently sits at the £42.5m they paid Real Madrid to sign Mesut Özil in 2013.

Sky Italia reported Torino director Petrachi as claiming this week: "We received and refused a €65m offer from Arsenal for Andrea Belotti, but it does not reflect the value of the player.

"Anyway, he is going nowhere for now. We want to enjoy him, then we'll see what happens.

"We intend to keep Belotti and president Urbano Cairo signed this important buy-out clause. I think he's worth more than they have offered."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has openly expressed his belief that there will not be any new faces at the club this month unless he is faced with a transfer too good to turn down, and the Frenchman will instead look to the club to try and secure the futures of a number of first-team players in order to focus on transfer business in the summer.

Wenger has already seen the contract saga with Özil take a new twist this week after the World Cup-winning midfielder spoke publicly about his desire to sign an extension on the condition that Wenger also commits his future to the club. The two have a close bond at the Emirates, given it was a phone call from Wenger that persuaded Özil to move to London from Madrid, and he says he is happy to sign a new deal if Wenger does the same – his contract expires this summer with talks on hold until April over the manager’s future.

Wenger also confirmed that he will continue to enforce his over-30’s policy of offering one-year extensions in an effort to keep Santi Cazorla and Per Mertesacker at the club beyond the summer, with both entering the final six months of their contracts.

There remains doubt over the future of Alexis Sanchez though, with the Chile international no closer to signing a contract extension with 18 months left on his current deal.

In-form striker Olivier Giroud is set to receive a new deal though, with the France international enjoying a purple patch since returning to the side after scoring goals in Arsenal’s last four matches against West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Preston North End.