Arsenal 'told to pay close to £27m to land Porto midfielder Danilo Pereira'
Arsenal are lining up a move for Porto midfielder Danilo Pereira as Mikel Arteta looks to strengthen the Gunners' midfield options.
The 28-year-old has been an integral part of a title-winning Porto team this season and has made 40 appearances across all competitions for the club.
And Portuguese news outlet O Jogo have reported that the 28-year-old will be available this summer and have set an asking price of close to £27m.
The club rejected a bid of £27m for the player last summer but now feel that figure is a fair price.
However it is believed Arsenal are not willing to pay as much for the player as the Portuguese champions would like.
Mikel Arteta's side is only willing to spend £18m on the player, and it is said a bid of this price would be instantly rejected by Porto.
This could mean Arsenal will need to increase their offer for Pereira who could add some steel to the Gunners' midfield.
The Gunners have a restricted transfer budget this summer on the back of the covid-19 pandemic.
Arsenal are hoping to clear funds by offloading Matteo Guendouzi and Mesut Ozil this summer which could prove to be a tough ask in terms of the latter.
Pereira though is a no-nonsense type midfielder who could be seen as a cheaper alternative to Atletico Madrid's Thomas Partey who the Gunners have also been linked with in recent months.
The midfielder has spoken out in the past about a potential move to the North London Club.
He told Stats Perform News as per The Sun: 'I think he (Arteta) is doing a really, really, good job there. He is a really good coach who started as the second coach at [Manchester] City, so he has a little experience and Arsenal play very good football and I think he is doing very well there.
'He is a Spanish coach, he is a bit similar to Portuguese coaches, they also want to play with the ball and improve with the ball, so I think he is a good coach.
'The style I think I can fit there, the way he plays also thinking on the ball, the team always has to be together - I think it is a good way to play.'
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