Ruben Neves set to stay at Al Hilal in January window amid interest from Arsenal and Newcastle United

Al-Hilal midfielder and reported Arsenal target Ruben Neves will remain with the Saudi Pro League club during the January transfer window, according to The Athletic journalist David Ornstein.

The Gunners were recently linked with an interest in the Portugal international as manager Mikel Arteta looks to bolster his options in the middle of the park following injury to Thomas Partey.

Newcastle United also want to sign the former Wolverhampton Wanderers star on loan to cover for the banned Sandro Tonali, but Premier League clubs are expected to vote in favour of a block on clubs loaning players from within their own ownership group next week, which is meant to work in the favour of Arsenal as both Al-Hilal and the Magpies are owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF).

However, Neves, 26, has no plans to join the Gunners or Newcastle in January having established himself as a key player for the current SPL leaders.

He is also happy and settled at the Riyadh side and there have so far been no approaches or negotiations for him.

Al-Hilal have also lost Neymar to a long-term injury while Neves’ fellow midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is currently on the sidelines, so the last thing Jorge Jesus’ side want right now is to sell such a key player during the winter transfer window.

As a result, Arsenal will need to look elsewhere for the midfielder they want as it is a position Arteta is desperate to strengthen in January.

Partey will not return to action this year, and he will be with Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations until February if he manages to return to fitness in January.

Declan Rice and Jorginho are the current options available to Arteta right now, and the Arsenal boss knows he needs more squad depth in the position during the second half of the campaign.

Neves would have been a solid option for the Gunners given his quality and experience, but luring him back to England is not going to work out and their scouting department needs to quickly identify other targets.