According to Goal, Arsenal have made a bid worth £20m for Palmeiras midfielder Danilo.
After Mohamed Elneny’s injury news hit the headlines on Tuesday evening, several reports stated that the Gunners will try to strengthen in the middle of the park.
Arsenal have been previously linked with Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans, who is believed to be keen on a move to the Emirates Stadium this summer.
With the Belgian available on a cut-price deal due to his contractual situation, it looked like a deal too good to ignore. However, the latest report from Goal states that Arsenal have done just that by placing a bid for Danilo.
The 21-year-old has made 61 appearances in the top-flight of Brazil, scoring three times and assisting a further two times. He has majorly been deployed at the defensive midfield position, but can also play as a number eight.
Arsenal’s transfer priority before the deadline was to bring in a wide attacker, which would have provided depth in the attacking wing areas. Wolves’ Pedro Neto and Shakhtar Donetsk’s Mykhaylo Mudryk have both been linked ahead of a possible late move in the window.
However, the Elneny injury placed a difficult decision ahead of the Gunners’ hierarchy: whether to pursue a winger or a midfielder. As adding a fresh body on both the positions is beyond their financial limits.
The report further states that the Palmeiras president will reject Arsenal’s bid of £20m, instead demanding the player’s whopping release clause of £86 million [€100m].
If the Brazilian outfit don’t change their stance soon, the Gunners will certainly move out from the negotiation table. AC Milan is another club that has thrown admiring glances at the player.
But even they won’t be willing to meet the current demands of the Sao Paolo-based club. Therefore, it will be intriguing to see how this situation unfolds in the next hours, as there isn’t much time left to play the waiting game.
