Arsenal

Arsenal

Premier League • England

Mikel Arteta ‘endorses’ Edu move for lethal Arsenal striker target, as Fabrizio Romano confirms big price tag

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta has reportedly given his ‘endorsement’ to Arsenal signing a Brazilian attacker, with the Gunners rivalling big clubs such as Barcelona and Chelsea for him.

Arsenal had an eventful January transfer window, missing out on some huge signings but going on to land impressive alternatives instead. They invested a lot of time and effort to snare Mykhaylo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk, but ultimately lost out to Chelsea.

Arsenal were not quite willing to meet Shakhtar’s huge £88million valuation of the winger, and this saw Chelsea swoop in and take him to west London.

Reacting to that transfer miss, sporting director Edu landed Belgian attacker Leandro Trossard from Brighton for £27m. While Trossard is heading towards the other end of his career in comparison to 22-year-old Mudryk, he looks set to play an important role for Arsenal over the next few seasons.

Arsenal and Chelsea also made bids to sign Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo. Arsenal put more on the table than Chelsea this time, with Edu’s second offer being worth £70m. However, the Seagulls were not willing to let Caicedo go mid-season for any price and rejected all the proposals.

Arsenal resultantly moved away from Caicedo and landed Jorginho from Chelsea for £12m instead. They also completed a  £20m deal to sign Polish centre-half Jakub Kiwior from Spezia.

The Gunners are enjoying a great season and those new players will only help in the push for the league title and Europa League glory. But Edu knows more new arrivals will be required this summer if Arsenal are to continue being one of the best teams in England.

As such, he has begun plotting a move for Athletico Paranaense striker Vitor Roque. Arsenal joined the likes of Barca, Chelsea and West Ham in the hunt for the Brazil U20 international on Saturday.

Centre-forward valued at £52.9m by current club

And recently, Fabrizio Romano revealed the price Arsenal would have to pay for him. Despite being just 17 years old, he is already valued at a whopping €60m (£52.9m) by Athletico Paranaense. This is partly down to his deadly performances at the South American U20 Championship, in which he has registered six goals in eight matches.

Romano also explained how Edu’s great connections in Brazil could help Arsenal beat Barca and Chelsea to a deal.

An update on the situation has now arrived from Brazilian outlet UOL Esporte. They claim Arteta has given Edu the green light to snare Roque by personally ‘endorsing’ the move.

It seems the teenager is now one of Arsenal’s transfer priorities heading into the summer window.

Arsenal fans may have some reservations about the club spending £52.9m on such a young player. He is still very much a raw talent, which he has also never played in Europe.

However, there are two reasons why Edu and Arteta should be trusted. The first is that Edu is emerging into a top negotiator. This means he should be able to drag Athletico Paranaense well down from that price tag.

Secondly, Edu and Arteta have shown that they know exactly which players will improve the Arsenal squad. Therefore, there is a good chance Roque would do well for the Gunners if he did move to the Emirates.

He could learn off compatriots Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes.

Meanwhile, Arsenal appear to be the frontrunners to sign a Man Utd and Chelsea-linked star.