Arsenal might have failed to sign Emi Buendia who seems to have chosen a move to Aston Villa but instead of sulking, the Gunners have quickly shifted their focus to Ruben Neves.
Ruben Neves has been one of the first names on Wolves’ teamsheets over the past couple of seasons but now with Nuno Espirito Santo gone, the midfielder’s future at the club has become uncertain.
According to the latest reports, Arsenal are planning to make a move for Ruben Neves in the coming weeks with Mikel Arteta viewing him as the ideal partner to Thomas Partey.
The Athletic claims: “Arsenal are interested in signing Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves this summer.
“The Athletic understands that Arsenal are admirers of the 24-year-old and could move to sign him from Wolves, where he has played since signing from Porto in 2017.
“Contact has been made between the two clubs and Wolves are believed to be open to a sizeable sale as they look to reshape their squad this summer under prospective new boss Bruno Lage, who is set to be appointed in the coming days.
“As The Athletic has previously reported, Wolves will have to sell big if they want to buy big this summer.
“That means either Neves or Adama Traore were always likely to go in this window as they are their most saleable assets.”
Will Arsenal be able to sign Ruben Neves?
Last season, Granit Xhaka was partnering Thomas Partey in defensive midfield and to be brutally honest, Arsenal are not going to get back into the top-four of the Premier League with this pair in their starting line-up next season.
Ruben Neves will be a top-class upgrade to someone like Xhaka and now that Wolves are planning to rebuild, signing him should not be a major headache as well.
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Wolves managed to hold onto their star players last year but now they have to sell some of them to raise funds for their new arrivals. And like The Athletic have mentioned, the names of Adama Traore and Ruben Neves will be at the top of their list.
As per the rumours, Ruben Neves has been valued at around £34 million, a fee that Arsenal should be able to pay quite easily. Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi are also likely to depart this summer so a lot of the required funds should also come from there as well.
Granit Xhaka has been linked with a move to AS Roma but we don’t think Arteta will sanction a deal until he has wrapped up the signing of someone like Ruben Neves.
