Fabrizio Romano says Arsenal will try to sign Pedro Neto after Nicolas Pepe leaves

By Shamanth Jayaram

Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Arsenal will make a move to sign Pedro Neto – but only after Nicolas Pepe leaves the club.

The Gunners are on the market for a new winger, and they have been linked with plenty of names already. Neto, however, is reportedly Mikel Arteta’s top target this summer, but Arsenal haven’t made their move just yet.

Fabrizio Romano says Arsenal will try to sign Pedro Neto after Nicolas Pepe leaves

Pepe, Arsenal’s record signing, has no future at the club. He has fallen down Arteta’s pecking order, and the Gunners want him to leave before the window shuts next week.

Thankfully for them, Pepe seems to have found a new club. The Ivorian is set to join French side OGC Nice on a season-long loan deal, and he has even agreed to reduce his wages to push the move through.

Romano has claimed that right after Pepe’s move to Nice is made official, the Gunners will have a go at signing Neto from Wolves.

When asked about the ‘sensational‘ Portuguese winger, the journalist said on the Que Golazo Podcast last night: “They have to complete the deal for Nicolas Pepe to Nice before entering into new winger deal advanced negotiations.

“Arsenal’s interest (in Neto) is there, he’s one of the big names on the list.

“I’m sure they will be on it once they will sell Nicolas Pepe to Nice or him out to Nice. Negotiations (are) in progress for Pepe, then we will see what happens with Neto – step by step.”

TBR View:

Neto would be a tremendous signing for Arsenal.

The Wolves winger can play on either flank, is an excellent dribbler and can score and create goals. He’s still only 22 as well, which means he will only get better in the coming years.

The stumbling block for Arsenal, however, will be Wolves’ demands. Neto still has almost five years left on his current contract, which means the Wanderers can demand a huge fee for him.

That could complicate things for Arsenal, but if Edu can somehow pull this off, the Gunners could become a real force this season.