Arsenal manager wants to bring in a new keeper during the January transfer window and according to The Sun, the Premier League side are looking at Barcelona’s 31-year-old keeper Neto.
The report claims: “THE GUNNERS are hoping to bolster their goalkeeping resources this January transfer window.
“And reports suggest that Barcelona’s Brazilian keeper Neto is the latest to be identified by Mikel Arteta.”
Mikel Arteta has made it clear that he wishes to bring in a backup to Bernd Leno and the management has already set the ball rolling.
Arteta said in a recent press conference: “The discussions we had in the summer with Edu and the Club were a little bit different to what actually happened because of the transfer window and the situation that developed with Emi.
“We didn’t have much time to do what we really wanted to do and we decided to assess the situation now in this window. We will make a decision about how we want to move forward in those three positions in the goalkeeping area.”
This is not the first time that Arsenal have been linked with Neto as they tried to sign the 31-year-old during the summer as well. But back then, a deal could not be struck because the Gunners had refused to meet Barcelona transfer demands of around £19 million.
This time Arsenal are looking for a loan deal for the remainder of the season with a possible option to buy in the summer.
Neto has played in six La Liga games for Barcelona this season but if he chooses to move to the Emirates then his playing time will diminish even further, something which he would not really like.
Also, it’s still unclear if Barcelona are interested in letting him leave on loan or not.
Summer signing Alex Runarsson has clearly failed to impress at Arsenal during the first half of the season which is why Arteta is so desperate to add a new keeper before the January transfer window shuts down.
Apart from the Barcelona man, Arsenal have also been linked with Brentford’s David Raya and Aston Villa’s Tom Heaton.
