Wolves chief Bruno Lage has cooled talk of an Arsenal swoop for Pedro Neto in the wake of reports claiming the winger is a key target for Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners are still in the market for new recruits after splashing out heavily on deals for Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, Marquinhos and Matt Turner already this summer, with Arteta thought to be keen on acquiring another winger to bolster his attacking options.
A report from The Athletic revealed that Neto has now emerged as Arteta's top target ahead of the September 1 deadline - but Lage has insisted that he is unaware of any concrete proposals for the coveted 22-year-old.
“I have heard that but nothing has come to us,” Lage said when he was asked about Arsenal's interest in Neto after Wolves had edged past Preston in the EFL Cup on Tuesday night. “It’s normal now, with the good players that we have. Teams are looking for good players in the same way we are looking for [Goncalo] Guedes, Matheus [Nunes], [Nathan] Collins. No one told me anything about any proposal.”
Despite Lage's latest update, it appears as though Arsenal are determined to try and prise the Portuguese winger away from Molineux in the coming days as their lavish summer spending spree shows no sign of ceasing.
It was claimed earlier this week that the Gunners have been 'in talks' with Neto's agent, Jorge Mendes, for weeks in a bid to thrash out a deal for the winger, who is back fit and playing again after overcoming a serious knee injury.
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But Wolves are determined to hang onto Neto and are under no pressure to sell their prized attacking asset after raking in a cool £42million from the sale of Morgan Gibbs-White, who quit the club to join Premier League new boys Nottingham Forest earlier this month.
Arsenal originally pursued Neto back in 2017 under Arsene Wenger. The legendary Frenchman had kept tabs on Neto, who had made a big impression around Europe after breaking into the Braga team as a teenager, but that interest failed to materialise into a deal.
Arteta will be hoping for better luck than his previous Arsenal mentor in his bid to lure Neto to north London, with the Spaniard intent on bolstering his attacking options to ensure the Gunners' stunning start to the season continues.
The Londoners are currently top of the Premier League after bagging maximum points with consecutive wins over Crystal Palace, Leicester and Bournemouth.
