‘The asking price was huge’: David Ornstein claims Arsenal’s number one deadline target wasn’t initially Douglas Luiz
The Athletic’s David Ornstein has been speaking about Arsenal today and claims that there were other targets as well as Douglas Luiz on deadline day.
The Gunners went right to the deadline to try and sign Luiz from Villa. However, despite bidding up to around £25m for the midfielder, Villa stuck to their guns and denied Arsenal.
Of course, Arsenal had a fine window in the main as they made a number of fine signings. And while it was Luiz who’s name dominated deadline day, David Ornstein has revealed it was actually Wolves winger Pedro Neto was the main target throughout the final weeks.
“Luiz became the focus of Arsenal’s attentions on deadline day. I’m not sure he was previously because initially Arsenal were looking to bring in a wide attacker after sanctioning Nicolas Pepe’s loan move to Nice. That left them one winger down and their top target was Pedro Neto of Wolves,” Ornstein said on the Five Insider Show.
“But it was always going to be really tricky as Wolves never had any intention or desire to sell him. And if they were going to, the asking price was going to be huge. And we said they had other options. Mudryk as Shakthar was one of them.”
Ornstein went on to add that an injury to Mohamed Elneny had changed Arsenal’s plans, while Thomas Partey’s fitness is also a concern for Mikel Arteta.
Our View: Neto Could Still Sign For Arsenal
There is no chance that Pedro Neto simply disappears off the radar for Arsenal as it stands. Neto has too much quality for Arsenal to ignore and if he has another good season, interest will be high.
It’s no surprise to see Arsenal so keen on Neto though. The Portuguese starlet is quite the talent and on his day, he can be one of the very best wingers in the Premier League.
