Arsenal are targeting a midfielder in the January transfer window and have been linked with several players, but now look set to miss out on one of their targets.
It recently emerged that Arsenal were scouting Benfica starlet Joao Neves, who scored a late equaliser in an excellent performance against rivals Sporting Club De Portugal just before the international break.
The teenager looks a well-rounded option in midfield, and one who could start alongside Declan Rice both at the base in the middle as well as further forward.
Neves is being scouted by a number of top clubs including Manchester United, but it now seems highly unlikely that he will move in the January transfer window.
Fabrizio Romano reveals Arsenal Joao Neves blow
Following the links between Arsenal and Joao Neves, Fabrizio Romano has dealt a hammer-blow as he has revealed that Benfica will not negotiate at all over a sale of Neves.
“Benfica have no intention to open talks for João Neves in January despite Man United sending their scouts many times to track talented midfielder,” he posted on X.
“There’s same clause as Enzo Fernández one year ago into his contract: €120m.”
This means that any club who wishes to sign the 19-year-old in the winter window would only be able to if they paid his £105m release clause, just like Chelsea did with Enzo Fernandez last year.
Is Joao Neves worth £105m to Arsenal now?
When Chelsea eventually paid a then-British record fee for Fernandez to join from Benfica, many questions were raised about whether he was ready to justify that kind of spending.
It followed a month where Chelsea desperately negotiated with Benfica but saw little progress, and the Portuguese giants will be in a similarly strong position over Neves in this window.
Whilst Fernandez and Neves have similar levels of experience at Benfica, with Enzo leaving after just 29 games whilst Neves has made 38, a key difference is that Fernandez was already a standout talent at River Plate, and had just delivered an outstanding campaign to help Argentina win the World Cup.
Even if Arsenal could afford to pay such a fee in January, Neves would not be worth that kind of price given his relative inexperience, and Edu Gaspar may look for alternatives.
It appears that after a summer of heavy spending, Arsenal will be targeting cheaper options to boost their midfield after deciding they can no longer rely on Thomas Partey amidst his injury issues.
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