Arsenal have been given a boost in their pursuit of Ruben Neves ahead of the summer transfer window, with Wolves having reportedly accepted that will have to sell the midfielder at the end of the season.
According to the Manchester Evening News, Wanderers are considering replacements for Neves as they expect to lose the Portuguese midfielder at the end of the season. Neves, 25, has been heavily linked to Arsenal in recent months. although Manchester United and Barcelona have also been said to claim an interest in the midfielder.
Wolves manager Bruno Lage has never hidden his admiration for the 24-year-old and even recently claimed that he could be worth up to £100million this summer. Speaking to our sister title Birmingham Live, he said: “I don’t know if it’s Man Utd or other teams, what I know is we have a special player here with us.
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“When you have that player, the best thing to do is improve his salary and years of contract. But who knows, when you have a top player like him in that specific position, that can defend and attack, and is a top professional and a great man, the big teams are there with £100 million to buy these kinds of players.
“It depends on the strategy of Wolves also. That’s why it was so hard to find players in the last two transfer windows because we want to find the best players at the right price and the right age to help us, then after two or three years they can give us economical profit. It’s not just about Wolves, in these days which club can refuse a proposal of 80, 90 or 100 million pounds? Five or six.”
Despite the £100m price tag quoted by Lage, this has been questioned by news sources, as Sky Sports had recently reported that Wolves had put a £50m-£60m price tag on Neves for the summer transfer window. The report had also claimed that the Gunners are still interested in pursuing a deal.
Arsenal could be left short in midfield this summer, as football.london understands that Roma are expected to make a fresh attempt to sign Granit Xhaka at the end of the season.
This will mean that Thomas Partey would be the only experienced midfielder in the team. Mohamed Elneny’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season, and Albert Sambi Lokonga and Charlie Patino are still yet to register a full Premier League season under their belt.
Neves has been impressive in the Premier League since getting promoted with Wolves from the Championship in the 2017/2018 season. He has gone on to make 169 appearances in England’s top division and has contributed to 30 goals from the central midfield position.
It is clear that Arsenal are on the hunt for a central midfielder in the summer, as the Gunners have also been chasing Youri Tielemans from Leicester City. But with Wolves’ acceptance in selling Neves, Edu could opt for the Portuguese international to be the north London sides’ next midfield acquisition.
