Arsenal are in discussions with a £44 million Brazilian starlet over joining the club, in a move that would signal massive intent from Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners spent around £200m in the summer transfer window, smashing their transfer record for £105m midfielder Declan Rice, while improving in attack and defence, as Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber joined. David Raya signed on a year-long loan, too, with a fee of around £30m due next summer, should Arsenal trigger a permanent move.
Yet Arteta is reportedly still unsatisfied with his squad and plans to add another big-money attacker – with a little help from Brazilian sporting director and former Invincible, Edu Gaspar, who has a superb working relationship with his home country.
Calciomercato claims that Brazilian teenager Matheus Reis is in talks over a move to the Emirates Stadium, following in the footsteps of the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Marquinhos, who have moved directly from South America to north London in recent years.
The young attacker has a release clause of around £44m, which Arsenal will no doubt have to talk down should they want to sign him – but Reis will not leave Fluminense cheaply. This kind of deal feels akin to Real Madrid's recent transfer business of signing players straight from South America, such as Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Endrick – though Arsenal signing this left-winger could, in fact, point to a longer-term strategy, revealing a plan for a fellow Selecao starlet.
Martinelli similarly moved to the Premier League straight from Brazil and has established himself as a first-team star, despite previous rejections from the likes of Manchester United. The 22-year-old has played on the left for Arteta – but could be converted into a forward to make way for Reis in years to come.
In 2021, Arteta told FourFourTwo that Martinelli was a centre-forward, suggesting that he didn't have the squad balance to play a more conventional winger there.
“We are using one [left-winger] to play as a left-back [Saka],” the Basque boss said, “So we’re just trying to adapt to the situation that we have today, trying to create an amount of goal threat that can be successful for the team. That’s part of managing the players that we have.”
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