Arsenal want Danilo and it’s now claimed that the Gunners have done plenty of groundwork on a potential deal for the Palmeiras star.
The Gunners will be in the market for a holding midfielder in 2023.
Mohamed Elneny is out of contract in the summer and may be let go, meaning new competition is needed for Thomas Partey.
Whilst a number of names have been linked in recent times, Palmeiras talent Danilo continues to be touted again and again.
Edu knows a thing or two about the Brazilian market and appears to be looking there once again.
Arsenal wanted Palmeiras star Danilo over the summer but Palmeiras didn’t want to sell at that time as they chased the Brazilian league title
The London Evening Standard noted in September that Arsenal were still keen and The Sun added in October that Arsenal think they can do a deal worth £26million in January.
Palmeiras won the title earlier this month and that may just pave the way for Danilo to leave in January.
Arsenal are expected to be at the front of the queue for Danilo with Edu keen to add to the Gunners’ Brazilian contingent.
Goal’s Arsenal correspondent Charles Watts – one of the best Arsenal sources out there – has now been talking about Danilo.
Watts has suggested on YouTube that Arsenal did make a summer offer for Danilo but it just wasn’t going to happen.
Watts added that Arsenal have done ‘a lot of groundwork’ on a potential deal for Danilo.
That involves talking to Palmeiras and Danilo’s representatives to try and tee up a future deal for the midfielder.
Whether that happens in January or not is unclear but Arsenal do appear to be very keen on signing the 21-year-old.
“They were looking at him very strongly in the summer, it didn’t happen because Palmeiras just didn’t want to do a deal in the summer because they had a lot still to play for in their season and Danilo was an absolutely vital part of that, so they weren’t going to entertain any bids in the summer,” said Watts.
“I believe Arsenal did actually make a bid for him towards the end of the summer transfer window and were told in no uncertain terms, ‘look, it’s not happening now’. Arsenal have been doing a lot of groundwork when it comes to him, they’ve been talking to the club, they’ve been talking to the representatives for a long, long time, everyone kind of knows where everyone stands in that situation.”
“As far as I’m aware, there hasn’t been a bid made yet from Arsenal but I expect there’s going to be lots of talk about that,” he added.
Danilo has already played more than 140 times for Palmeiras, racking up 12 goals and nine assists.
Arsenal will surely hope to finally get this deal done and Edu will pray that all his work pays dividends.
In other news, Report: Arsenal willing to sell £27m player with ‘huge qualities’ for £43m
