Mirko Vucinic
Mirko Vucinic Reuters

Arsenal are back in the race to sign Mirko Vucinic from Juventus after a swap deal with inter Milan involving the Italian striker and Fredy Guarin broke down.

The Metro reports that the Gunners are likely to move back in for the player after given renewed hope in their pursuit. Vucinic's agent was supposed to fly down to London to talk to the management to secure a move for the forward but the same never materialised owing to the ongoing saga involving the Inter and Juventus.

However, in a statement on their official website, Intel have releaved that the deal is officially closed and they won't be making any other attempts to sign the Italian through a swap deal.

"Internazionale would like to announce that we have decided not to proceed in negotiations with Juventus for the transfer between Fredy Guarin and Mirko Vucinic," the official statement said.

"President Thohir, after discussions with Massimo Moratti, his son Angelomario and with the company directors, considered that the conditions were not met, technical or economical, to reach an agreement and has already given a mandate to the technical team to evaluate other opportunities in the market, with the aim to strengthen in respect of the economic parameters set by the Financial Fair Play," it added.

The Gunners are in the market for a striker as backp for Olivier Giroud, who has started in almost every game thus far this season. However, with no world class strikers available for Arsene Wenger in January, he is looking for a loan deal to provide a stop gap option so that he can go big in the summer on a long term solution.

The north London club have been linked with moves for Diego Costa and Mario Manzukic but are unlikely to have any joy till the end of the season, with both players enjoying an important role in their team's title aspirations in their respective leagues. Vucinic's arrival will allow Giroud to rest and with Theo Walcott out for the season, will give Wenger another route up front.