Arsenal plot ‘hijack’ on Newcastle for £47m star; Gunners boosted as Barca ‘revise’ winger’s valuation
According to reports, Arsenal are ‘ready to hijack’ Newcastle United in the race to sign Ruben Neves from Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Hilal.
Neves was one of the players who left the Premier League to join the Saudi Pro League during the recent summer transfer window. Al-Hilal paid around £47m to sign him from Wolves.
The Portugal international could end up just spending six months in the Middle East as he is being linked with a move back to the Premier League ahead of the winter transfer window.
Newcastle are going to be in the market for a new midfielder as they need to find a replacement for Sandro Tonali, who has been banned until the end of the season over his betting offences.
The Magpies and Saudi Pro League sides are funded by PIF and with Premier League outfits set to vote on a proposal to ban loan transfers between associated clubs, they could soon be prohibited from signing Neves.
This could potentially open the door for other Premier League clubs to sign Neves and according to talkSPORT, Arsenal are interested in him. Their report claims.
‘Arsenal are ready to hijack Newcastle’s move for Ruben Neves.
‘As talkSPORT reported earlier this month, Newcastle have explored the possibility of signing Neves on loan to cover for the banned Sandro Tonali.
‘However, Premier League clubs are expected to vote next week in favour of a block on clubs loaning players from within their own ownership group. Neves is registered with Al-Hilal, who are owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), as are Newcastle.
‘The change in regulations could benefit Arsenal, who have made bolstering their midfield a priority with Thomas Partey ruled out at least until the New Year with an ongoing thigh issue.
‘Arsenal’s sporting director Edu is known to be a long-term admirer of former Wolves star Neves.’
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Barcelona winger Raphinha is another player who has consistently been on Arsenal’s radar in recent years. The London outfit were in the race to buy the Brazil international from Leeds United during last year’s summer window before he joined the Spanish giants.
Football Transfers are now of the understanding that ‘Barcelona have set their asking price for Raphinha as they look to move the Brazilian on’.
They add: ‘Already in previous transfer windows, the cash-strapped Catalans had been willing to listen to offers in a bid to use any potential transfer fee to balance the books, though nothing ultimately materialised. In January 2023, the Blaugrana reportedly put a €100m price tag on his head, which put off Arsenal and Newcastle.
‘Now, however, we can reveal that the LaLiga giants have revised their asking price and are instead demanding €70m. Barcelona would prefer to strike a deal in the January window, though they realise that a summer move is much more likely.’
