Arsenal made offer for Chelsea star but Mikel Arteta now wants Barcelona target | Football

Chelsea completed a surprise £54m move for long-term Arsenal target Neto earlier in the month, handing the Portugal forward a seven-year deal until 2031.

Neto made his Chelsea debut in last weekend’s Premier League defeat to Manchester City and also featured in Thursday’s Europa Conference League win over Servette.

The 24-year-old joined Wolves from Lazio in 2019 and scored 14 goals in 135 appearances for the Midlands club.

Neto was one of Wolves’ most important players for most of his stint at Molineux but also had spells on the sidelines due to reoccurring injury issues.

His injury record was reportedly one of the reasons Arsenal were willing to let Neto join London rivals Chelsea despite holding significant interest in the player.

But Arsenal’s interest in Neto was genuine, with The Athletic’s David Ornstein telling The Transfer Podcast that the Gunners even made an offer to secure his services during his time at Wolves.

Arsenal were heavily linked with Neto last summer and also during the last January transfer window but will now look elsewhere for reinforcements in that position.

Mikel Arteta is keen to sign a new winger, either to cover Bukayo Saka on the right or challenge the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard on the left.

Clubs were interested in Williams before Euro 2024 but the 22-year-old did his reputation no harm out in Germany, starring in Spain’s impressive and successful campaign.

Despite having admirers from all over Europe, Williams is expected to remain at Bilbao for one more season before likely sealing a big-money move next summer.

Arsenal signed Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna earlier in the summer and could yet try to bring in a striker to provide cover and competition for Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.

But club legend Paul Merson was surprised Arsenal did not push harder to beat Chelsea to the signing of Neto and believes he could be ‘incredible’ at Stamford Bridge.

‘If Chelsea can keep him fit, I think it is an incredible signing,’ Merson said on Sky Sports.

If you want to play a certain way of football, similar to Man City and Arsenal where they play two wide players and get the ball out – this is what Chelsea need to do.

‘If you can get Neto on the pitch, he is top draw. I think Arsenal missed a trick with him. If he goes to Arsenal he takes the workload of [Bukayo] Saka and [Gabriel] Martinelli.

‘Chelsea were very shrewd – they did it very quickly and very quietly. It’s a good signing.’

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