Arsenal want to sign Barcelona goalkeeper Neto on loan, Barca insist on £18m permanent deal

Arsenal have contacted Barcelona to enquire about the possibility of signing their backup goalkeeper Neto on loan with a view to a permanent deal according to Sport via Sportwitness. The Gunners want to sign the player on loan with a view to make the move permanent. Barcelona have rejected this proposition but are open to selling the goalkeeper to the Gunners for £18 million. 

Arsenal will be without their first choice goalkeeper Bernd Leno for the foreseeable future due to a serious knee injury that the German suffered in their last game against Brighton. Emiliano Martinez will step up to the plate in the short term but the Gunners have identified Neto as the man who they feel can fill in for Leno while the former Bayer Leverkusen man recuperates.

Neto’s agent is Kia Joorabchian who is known to have close ties to members of the Arsenal hierarchy. He is also the agent of David Luiz, Cedric Soares and Arsenal Technical Director Edu Gaspar. 

Due to Barcelona being against any potential loan deal, this transfer will be a challenging one for Arsenal. One possible alternative according to Sport is that there could be a swap deal of sorts between Arsenal and Barcelona that would see Neto head to the Emirates and Aubameyang to the Camp Nou. 

This move is unlikely at the moment as Barcelona are prioritising the signing of Lautaro Martinez from Inter Mlan but were that transfer to fall through, this idea could be revisited. Barcelona consider Aubameyang to be their backup option.

For the Gunners, any swap deal would not help them as they are looking for an immediate solution to their goalkeeper conundrum. If they want to sign Neto soon, a permanent deal costing £18 million is their only option.