Arsenal ‘tried to close down’ a deal for Palmeiras rising star Luighi Hanri Sousa Santos in the last few months.
That’s according to Sport, who profile the player today and explain how clubs from around Europe are having him scouted.
They explain that Palmeiras have set themselves as the leaders in developing Brazilian talent at this moment in time. They have an ‘inexhaustible source of talent’ at their disposal ready to step up and follow the likes of Endrick, Estevao and Luis Guilherme in making moves to Europe.
The latest diamond showing his talent is 18-year-old Luighi, who has already made his debut for the club and will be a first-team player from January once he’s done with the South America U20 tournament in Peru where Brazil will be defending their title.
The centre forward has been standing out in the youth ranks, not only for his goalscoring ability but his mobility and ‘technical mastery’ which also allows him to play as a winger.
Palmeiras are certain he’s a star of the future, so much so that they have ruled out signing a replacement for Gabigol in January and will back the youngster instead. Some at the club even believe he’s better than Endrick, who went to Real Madrid for €72m this summer.
European scouts are following him closely, including those at Arsenal, whose transfer business is of course led by Brazilian Edu Gaspar. In fact, according to Sport, the Gunners ‘tried to close him down in recent months’.
They were unsuccessful in this attempt and Palmeiras reacted by locking the youngster to a new deal with a release clause worth €80m.
It’s not the first time Luighi has been linked with a move to England as Southampton also saw an effort rejected before the end of the transfer window.
Those reports at the time made it clear that Luighi is being advised by former Arsenal star Gilberto Silva, who currently works for the agency CAA Base. Perhaps that can help them if they revive their efforts from this summer in the near future.
