Bonucci : Llorente is our weapon in attack

Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci has lauded his teammate Fernando Llorente as the club's "weapon" on the back of a 3-1 win over Copenhagen on Wednesday.

The Spanish striker was a key focal point as the Bianconeri secured a comprehensive Champions League victory on home turf, though it was midfielder Arturo Vidal who grabbed the headlines with his hat-trick.

Bonucci was pleased with how he and his team-mates handled the anti-attacking tactics of the visitors and heralded Llorente for helping to break down the Danish side's defence.

"Copenhagen tried to defend with 10 players behind the ball," the Italy international, 26, said to reporters after the match.

"We did well to bring the advantage back in our favour by playing with the calm and the experience that we have acquired over the years.

"In recent years we have played great football but we are changing it [against some] opponents. When we sometimes play ball high, Llorente is certainly a most effective weapon for us."

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Arsenal target January loan move for Llorente

Arsenal are targeting an ambitious January loan move for Fernando Llorente as they prepare to reinforce their front line.

The Premier League leaders have taken the first steps towards capturing the Juventus striker in the forthcoming window.

Gunners have made preliminary contact with Llorente's representatives in a bid to secure proven back-up to spearhead Olivier Giroud for the second half of the season.

Arsenal are also keeping close tabs on a second Serie A forward, Stephan El Shaarawy, although his club AC Milan are only likely to sell in January if they get eliminated from the Champions League before Christmas.

Arsene Wenger’s priority remains to capture a marquee striker after moves for Luis Suarez, Gonzalo Higuain, Stevan Jovetic and Wayne Rooney all fell through last summer, while the Gunners were also unable to agree a last-ditch loan deal for Chelsea’s Demba Ba.
Wenger is well aware of the difficulties in landing A-list options in the notoriously difficult January window, when the big clubs are reluctant to sell their best players.

Llorente has emerged as a possible short-term option even though he would be cup-tied for the Champions League.

The 28-year-old has had a difficult time in Turin since his summer transfer on a free from Athletic Bilbao and Arsenal, who enquired about signing him 12 months ago, have been alerted to his potential availability.

With Carlos Tevez the first-choice striker at Juventus, Llorente has had to compete with Mirko Vucinic and Fabio Quagliarella for a regular starting place.

After beginning the campaign out of favour, Llorente has started seven of Juventus' 16 matches, including a run of four consecutive starts before he was dropped to the bench for the 1-0 win at Parma on Saturday.

But the Spaniard, keen for a bigger role as he bids to return to the Spain side for the World Cup,  has scored only two goals for the Serie A champions, and Arsenal are hopeful they might be open to the possibility of loaning him out overseas.

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Tevez : Never criticised Llorente

Carlos Tevez has denied criticising Juventus team-mate Fernando Llorente, insisting that the Spaniard will become a key player.

Reports in Spain suggested that the former Manchester City attacker had said Llorente "would be better off playing basketball", but the Argentine has stressed that he never sad anything bad about his colleague.

"I want to explain I haven't said anything bad about Fernando," he said on his official Twitter account.

"In fact, I believe he is a great player and he will be a key player for us."

Llorente, 28, joined Juventus from Athletic Bilbao on a free transfer at the end of the 2012-13 campaign, but has been struggling to make an impact at his new club.

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