Arsenal will have to pay at least €30m if they wish to sign Danilo Pereira from Porto this summer but are yet to make their move for him.
The Gunners were linked with the Portuguese midfielder yesterday, with a report from ESPN claiming they had identified him as an alternative to Atlético Madrid’s Thomas Partey.
The belief is that Mikel Arteta is keen to improve his midfield this summer and that Arsenal had put aside €20m to try and secure Pereira this summer.
Those reports have now been picked up in Portugal, and both Record and Correio da Manha provide information on the transfer rumour.
According to Record, Porto are yet to receive and ‘concrete’ offers or enquiries for their man, but if they should, their answer will not have changed from the one they gave to Monaco last summer.
That label has now been removed, but the Portuguese side will make it clear they do not intend to sell for anything less than €40m, which, while high, is still considerably lower than Pereira’s €60m release clause.
Correio dispute this, though, and say that, according to their sources, a figure of €30m will be enough to tempt Porto into a sale.
They claim that the Coronavirus pandemic causing a ‘general decrease’ in transfer fees across the market plus Pereira’s age, 29, and the midfielder’s decreasing status as a key player make them believe now is the ‘right time’ to sell.
As already stated, both of those fees are below his release clause, but they are still, crucially, higher than the €20m Arsenal were claimed to be willing to spend.
With their finances reportedly tight, it remains to be seen if they’re willing to make up the difference to get their man or ultimately look elsewhere.
