Arsenal are reportedly ‘more incisive’ than Liverpool in the race to sign Sporting CP star Goncalo Inacio, as per the Portuguese outlet A Bola.
After impressing for the Liga Portugal giants in recent times, the 22-year-old has been attracting a lot of attention from several big clubs around Europe with Liverpool and Arsenal among those to have registered their interest.
While citing and translating the print version of A Bola, Sport Witness has reported that Sporting are fearful of losing their star defender in mid-season as several clubs have been keeping a close eye on him with the Gunners showing the most concrete interest in acquiring his service.
The report further claims that Inacio has a £52m release clause included in his current contract and an unnamed English club have already tabled an official proposal worth around £35m plus £17m in bonuses to sign the defender. So, it now remains to be seen whether Ruben Amorim’s side accept the proposal.
Arsenal are the only English club mentioned in A Bola’s article as the potential suitor so the Gunners are the likeliest suspect who have presented the formal proposal to Sporting.
Battle
Therefore, it looks like Mikel Arteta’s side are looking to beat Liverpool in this race by accelerating their efforts in the January window.
Inacio is a left-footed centre-back but can also be deployed in the left-back position. He is quick, good in the air, comfortable playing out from the back and also reads the game well.
The 22-year-old’s playing style is more suited to play in Arteta’s possession-based system. In addition, he would be an ideal option as a backup to Oleksandr Zinchenko so Inacio could be a shrewd signing for Arsenal if they purchase him.
However, it has been suggested that the North London club can’t afford to spend big in January having splashed over £200m last summer. So, it doesn’t look likely that Arsenal will be able to purchase Inacio this month if Sporting only demand the £52m fee.
Therefore, it is going to be interesting to see whether the Emirates club can eventually manage to secure Inacio’s signature in this winter window to reinforce their frontline.
