This Monday, we get to see some noise in the Brazilian media regarding Arsenal’s potential interest in Atlético Mineiro youngster Alisson.
The reason for it is a report from the English press at the weekend, which said the Gunners possibly recently scouted the player.
That’s why journalist Jorge Nicola showed up with his own update on Monday, where he says there are no bids from Arsenal on Atlético’s table so far, and the Brazilian club would demand between €20m and €25m for his sale.
Now before we turn this story into something bigger, it’s worth pointing out that it may not be as strong as it first appears to be.
Arsenal have indeed been linked to Alisson once, which happened last month, when Globo Esporte said the Gunners were one of the three Premier League sides who are monitoring his potential.
Now what led the English media to report the Gunners’ scouting job is a little more smoky.
That all started with Canal Alvinegro’s André Repsol claiming an English club recently scouted the player.
Twitter account Scouts in Attendance then showed up to point out that Arsenal’s new scout Paulo Xavier lives in Belo Horizonte, the same city where the alleged game took place, which was enough for many people to put two and two together and make five.
There are no direct claims that Arsenal were scouting him, though, and since other English clubs were linked last month, those could be scouting him as well.
So before this turns into a bigger rumour, we better wait and see if the Gunners will continue getting linked or that Globo report was just a one off.
