Neymar Jr. of Brazil remarked of his £45 million international teammate, “He will come and join them by January,” after learning from the management that the player’s skills were no longer needed at the club.
Fabrizio Romano has now shared that Arsenal have been tracking Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Pedro Neto for close to a year now
The journalist was speaking on ‘The Daily Briefing’ and said that Wolves had in fact said no to some proposals for Neto from clubs in the summer.
Romano also confirmed that Arsenal will face stiff competition to sign Neto in a race that is ‘absolutely open.’
He said: “As I said last week, things are likely to happen for the Portuguese winger in 2024 in terms of a transfer.
“Wolves said no to proposals in the summer, and there is no guarantee that they will approve a sale in January, but let’s see about 2024, whether that’s January or the summer, because clubs will arrive.
Arsenal wanted Neto just over a year ago.
“They’ve always been interested in the player and they keep tracking him, but there are also other clubs following the situation.”
Of course, Neto arriving at Arsenal during the season would be a very welcome boost.
Despite missing some key players on Sunday, Arsenal were able to beat Manchester City with their options available.
Romano says Arsenal may struggle to sign Neto in January
Recent injuries to Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka have really highlighted the need for one more elite winger in Arsenal’s squad.
Leandro Trossard is brilliant back-up, and has been unfortunate to suffer with injuries during the same period.
But it simply does feel as if Mikel Arteta doesn’t fully trust the likes of Reiss Nelson.
Instead, the Arsenal boss preferred to push Gabriel Jesus out wide again last night and didn’t use Nelson from the bench.
Perhaps Romano’s admission that Arsenal have always been interested in Neto is born out of their desire to seek an upgrade.
And there’s no doubting that £50m Neto could make the step up to an elite side based on his early season form.
