On Tuesday, The Sun had an article saying Arsenal would be keeping tabs on the Benfica striker Gonçalo Guedes, just in case Arsene Wenger needs to replace Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
As with every foreign story involving a big Portuguese club, it was quickly taken by the local press, and makes it to Wednesday’s edition of Record.
And besides The Sun’s information, there are a few extra bits that should be interesting for Arsenal fans to know.
One is that Arsenal are expected to be at the Estádio da Luz tonight, as Benfica will face Rio Ave in the Portuguese League. Scouts lists are something official, so they’re not just guessing here, but Arsenal are there often anyway.
Another interesting point is that they say that Valencia have tried to sign Guedes last summer, but the €30m bid wasn’t nearly enough to take him from Lisbon.
Record claims that Valencia have no way of going further than that, so it would be a clear run for Arsenal, or any club who want to offer more money.
Guedes has never had very impressive stats (five goals this season, seven in the one before), but has always been linked to big clubs. Managed by Jorge Mendes since his youth years, the player has a €60m release clause, which gives Benfica some power to negotiate.
Wenger is known to not be Mendes’ biggest fan, but has said he wouldn’t let it get in the way if he wanted to sign one of the agent’s players.
