Edu left flabbergasted with Arsenal told to splash out third-largest fee EVER to sign Prem star Arteta loves

Edu Gaspar, May 2019

Arsenal chief Edu Gaspar pictured working with the Brazil national team, May 2019

Arsenal have seen their prospects of signing Douglas Luiz suffer a hammer blow after learning through intermediaries the astonishing fee Aston Villa will demand to sell the Brazilian midfielder in the January window.

The Gunners are putting their energies into further midfield reinforcements in the winter window, despite splashing out a club-record £105m fee for Declan Rice over the summer. Rice has revolutionised their midfield and played a leading role for an Arsenal side that are sat two points clear at the top of the Premier League heading into a busy midweek of Premier League action.

However, with serious doubts over the long-term futures of Jorginho and Mohamed Elneny – with the Egyptian a target for Saudi Arabian clubs in January – together with Thomas Partey, who has suffered with injuries and a loss of form this season, the need for new midfielders has suddenly become a very urgent priority for the Gunners.

To that end, Monday’s Euro Paper Talk indicated the Gunners were willing to mount an opening offer for highly-rated Royal Antwerp midfielder Arthur Vermeeren, who has caught the eye during the Belgians’ participation in this season’s Champions League.

Just 18 years of age, it’s believed Arsenal are prepping an opening offer in the region of €20m (£17.1m) for the all-action midfielder.

His signing, though, is not likely to be enough and the Gunners are also widely reported to have switched their focus back towards the signing of Luiz.

The 25-year-old Aston Villa man has evolved into one of the Premier League’s leading all-round midfielders, adding goals (five) and assists (two) to his game this season.

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Arsenal told £60m Douglas Luiz offer won’t be anywhere near enough

The subject of a failed £25m bid from Arsenal in summer 2022, it’s believed Mikel Arteta is now desperate to add the 11-times capped star into his ranks, seeing him as the ideal midfield foil for Rice.

Since the Gunners failed to tempt Aston Villa to cash in, the price of the game’s elite midfielders has gone through the roof. That’s exemplified, of course, by Rice, but also by Chelsea’s acquisition of both Enzo Fernandez (£105.6m) and Moises Caicedo for a deal that will ultimately top £115m.

As a result, it seems Arsenal’s initial advances for Luiz will be rapidly swatted aside by Villa, who are in no mood to cash in.

As per Football Transfers, Arsenal were willing to spend as much as £60m to try and tempt Villa into the sale of Luiz when the January window opens for business.

With Edu putting the feelers out through intermediaries, however, the Arsenal technical director has reportedly been left stunned by the response.

Admittedly, he probably expected Aston Villa to not exactly roll out the red carpet over a prospective sale. However, he will undoubtedly be left shocked by the report that states Unai Emery’s side would demand a British record fee of £120m to consider the sale of Luiz.

No doubt intended only to scare them away, that is the sort of money that would make Arsenal’s owners wince.

Incredibly, that would go down as the third largest outright fee in the history of footbal were the move to go through at that price. The top two records are currently both held by PSG, who paid £198m for Neymar (in 2017) before forking out £163m for Kylian Mbappe a year later.

Edu needs to consider next major Arsenal transfer very carefully

After those two deals, there’s a significant drop with the £112m Atletico Madrid paid for Joao Felix the next highest, with Rice and Caicedo (£100m) measured on their downpayments only at this stage.

The report does state, though, that if Luiz does push to leave, then Villa could ultimately settle for a fee in the region of £80m.

That price would perhaps be more in mind with what Arsenal would have probably be expecting to pay.

Nonetheless, Gunners chief Edu will have to think very carefully how best to spend Arsenal’s transfer budget. We understand that Arsenal do have money at their disposal for the right kind of signing in the January window if it is felt a prospective signing would help boost their squad and, more significantly, their chances of winning the Premier League title.

However, Edu is also reportedly keen to add a new striker to his mix and the potential £80m-plus needed for Luiz might be best spent towards the likes of either Victor Osimhen or Ivan Toney.

The Gunners are reportedly now listed as favourites in the Italian media to sign the Napoli striker, who is under contract until summer 2025 and is rated in the £130m bracket.

Arteta, however, has reportedly made clear his priorities lie in strengthening his central midfield and the boss would undoubtedly love to get his hands on the talented Brazilian star.

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