Juventus' Arturo Vidal (Photo : Reuters)
Recently-crowned Copa America champion Arturo Vidal was rumored to be joining Spanish club Real Madrid this coming season. A local media outlet indicated that the Chilean superstar had already agreed to a five-year deal with Los Blancos at a still undisclosed amount, as per ESPN.
English club Arsenal was also said to be interested in the crafty midfielder with manager Arsène Wenger's widely known fondness for the controversial player. Speculations arose that a £21-million fee was offered to Juve, which the Italian club has since denied.
It turned out that the Arsenal rumor was far from reality and Real coach Rafa Benitez has the upper hand in signing the 28-year-old footballer.
However, recent reports refuted the rumors that Vidal had previously signed any transaction with the Bernabéu giants.
Bleacher Report said that Real had denied any transactions reached with Le Zebre as the club insisted of not making "any moves" to acquire the Chilean midfielder.
However, the report also clarified that this does not mean that the Spanish team is not interested in Vidal. It may just be not the right time to confirm their pursuit of the former Bayer Leverkusen player.
Vidal is coming off a successful Copa America run this summer where he scored three goals in six games. He also scored one of the four penalty kicks that decided the final match against Argentina, which gave the Chileans their first-ever Copa in 99 years.
His creativity and resourcefulness on the pitch would further boost an already tough Los Blancos midfield that includes Colombia's James Rodriguez and Germany's Toni Kroos.
