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From Brazil: Arsenal ready to launch £8m bid, club willing to cash-in

By mac14 on November 16, 2018

According to reports in Brazil via the Sun, Arsenal are ready to launch an £8m bid to sign Atletico Mineiro full-back Emerson Junior ahead of the January window as Unai Emery looks to continue his squad overhaul.

Emerson started his career at Ponte Preta before joining Mineiro in April of this year and he’s established himself as their first choice right-back with 20 appearances in the Brazilian Serie A this season.

The 19-year-old has earned rave reviews for his performances and is tipped to become a full international in the future having already represented Brazil at Under-20 level.

It looks like Emerson’s potential has also alerted Arsenal as the Sun are citing a report from Brazilian outlet O Tempo that claims we’re ready to formalise our interest in the player this winter after sending scouts to keep a close eye on his progress.

The report says Arsenal will bid around £8m for the talented full-back and Mineiro are ready to cash-in due to their current financial difficulties, however, we’ll face stiff competition from Chelsea as the Blues are also showing a keen interest.

Unai Emery brought-in Stephan Lichtsteiner last summer but he’ll turn 35 in January so we need to find a long-term replacement and it looks like Arsenal chiefs have identified Emerson as a possible candidate.

We desperately need to find someone to offer competition to Hector Bellerin over the coming years as we’re heavily reliant on the Spaniard. With Lichtsteiner currently on the sidelines with a hamstring injury we have very little back-up at right-back so it makes sense the club are looking to strengthen in that department.

Emerson sounds like he has a big future ahead of him and has the potential to be a superb asset to the squad if he continues to progress over the coming years but we’ll do well to fend off competition from Chelsea as they have a long history of snapping up Brazilian talent.