Arsenal face a race against time if they want to sign Wolves winger Pedro Neto this summer.
Mikel Arteta's side have already strengthened their squad considerably during the summer transfer window, splashing over £110 million to bring in five first-team players. And Arteta has made it no secret of his desire to sign at least one more player before the window slams shut next week.
A winger is said to be the Gunners' priority and Wolves starlet Neto has been mooted as the number one target, although his price tag could be up to £50 million - a fee that has raised some concerns given Arsenal are now on UEFA's Financial Fair Play watchlist and The Athletic have even questioned whether or not the club can afford another big-money transfer given their FFP concerns.
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However, the fact that the club were willing to pay a similar fee for winger Raphinha, who eventually joined Catalan giants Barcelona instead, earlier this summer indicates that technical director Edu still has money to spend if the deal is worth it. Speaking about Arsenal's interest in Raphinha earlier this summer, the Brazilian transfer chief said: "‘People think we went in too deep about Raphinha, because Raphinha was everywhere.
"It’s fair we did have some conversations with Deco because Deco is his agent and I have a good relationship [with him] – we are friends. I just said to Deco, 'Can you explain to me the situation with Raphinha?' and he was clear, 'Edu, we have a good relationship but I’m not going to lie to you, his idea is to go to Barcelona because he’s dreaming to go to Barcelona, and we’ve been talking to Barcelona since a long time ago.'
"Okay, thank you very much, if something happens then just let me know because I can explore and understand the situation. If not, no problem and we carry on with our relationship'."
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