Arsenal, Newcastle, Spurs suffer early transfer blow as Ornstein confirms ex-PL man ‘not expected’ to move
Ruben Neves is “not expected” to leave Saudi Arabia in the January transfer window in a blow to Arsenal, Newcastle United and Tottenham transfer plans.
That’s according to The Athletic‘s David Ornstein, with Newcastle particularly heavily linked after losing Sandro Tonali to a ten-month ban for gambling offences.
Neves left Wolves for the Saudi Pro League in the summer transfer window for a reported £47m after the Portugal international spent six years at the Premier League club.
One of the most recent reports of interest in Neves came on Saturday with a claim that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta had made the Portuguese midfielder his ‘new wish’ for the winter window.
It has also been claimed that Spurs are ‘ready to pounce in January’ but now Ornstein insists that Neves is ‘not expected to leave Al Hilal in the January transfer window, irrespective of the Premier League’s attempts to temporarily ban its clubs from making loan signings from teams who operate under the same ownership.’
Ornstein adds that ‘as things stand the firm anticipation is that Neves will remain with Al Hilal until at least the end of the season’ and there ‘have so far been no approaches or negotiations about Neves exiting and barring an unforeseen turn of events, he will continue to represent the most decorated club in Asia.’
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Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has also confirmed that Arsenal haven’t begun negotiations over a potential deal with Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz higher up on their list of priorities.
Romano wrote in his Caught Offside column: “Ruben Neves continues to be linked with Arsenal, and I think these stories come from the fact that Mikel Arteta has always been a big fan of the player. He has always appreciated him, since he was at Wolves, and his name has come up a few times in recent years whenever Arteta had discussions about targets with Arsenal director Edu.
“I think that’s why there are these links, but at the moment there are no negotiations, and in fact the dream target for Arsenal in midfield is Douglas Luiz. It’s a complicated deal, though, because Aston Villa are having a fantastic season and they don’t want to sell an important player like Luiz in January.
“I think it would take very important money to make Villa change their minds about Luiz, so he’s Arsenal’s dream target – they see him as a perfect midfielder with a big future, but unless they are able to come in with a very big package of money, it’s going to be very difficult for them to get this deal done.
“Neves could therefore perhaps be a backup option in case Arsenal can’t sign Luiz, but for sure it’s going to be an interesting January for Arsenal because of the injury to Thomas Partey.
“Meanwhile, Jorginho’s agent has also spoken about the player’s future, suggesting contract talks are at a standstill. However, my understanding is that there were never talks over a new deal – he joined eight months ago, so it was never a serious topic. He’s part of the rotations at Arsenal and no changes are expected – also with Partey injured Arsenal and Arteta need him as part of their squad.”
