Arsenal are facing an unpleasant situation in their bid to sign Pedro Neto thanks to Liverpool inserting themselves in the race.
The Wolverhampton Wanderers and Portugal forward has been a long-term target of Mikel Areteta’s. The Spaniard has deemed it necessary to provide cover for Bukayo Saka, who is currently one of Arsenal’s most overworked players at the young age of 22.
Neto, 23, has been with Wolves since the 2019/20 season. He has been impressive in those years and many believed that he would be attracting interest from the big clubs soon enough. It has taken five seasons for that to officially happen but it looks like the former Lazio man is about to make a jump to a much more prominent club.
Just like with Arsenal, Liverpool are looking to shore up the right side of their attack. Mohamed Salah is currently with the Egypt national football team to participate in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and the Reds are thin in options to replace their talismanic forward. There is also talk about this season being his last with Liverpool thanks to very lucrative offers from Saudi Arabia that have been coming in since the summer.
Neto, who is valued at £35 million to £40 million, still has three years on his current Wolves contract. This means that both sides would face stiff negotiations in their bid to sign the player. The club’s asking price could also be higher as a result of his value to them and his contract duration.
Liverpool’s interest throws a wrench in Arsenal’s plans as their once smooth path to the Portugal international has now been roughed up. The Reds have a shortlist of players they are interested in for that position in case they fail to land Neto but reports indicate that Jürgen Klopp has asked the club to do all they can to land Neto.
Some reports also claim that Manchester City are in the mix.
The Cityzens have had no out-and-out right winger in their squad since Riyad Mahrez moved to Saudi Arabia. They have had to rotate between Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez, Bernardo Silva and Jérémy Doku in that position. Neto will provide a clear solution to that problem if he joins them in the next two transfer windows.
City’s involvement makes it hard for both Liverpool and Arsenal as the defending Premier League champions have a better financial capacity to sign Neto.
