Arsenal Rumors: Barcelona Star Demands One Thing From Gunners Before Transfer, Report Says

Barcelona backup goalkeeper Neto is certain about what he wants should he push through with a transfer move to Arsenal, a report says.

Neto’s name has recently emerged as one of the keepers Arsenal is eyeing at the moment. Gunners boss Mikel Arteta is said to be keen on adding the Brazilian to his squad. The English club is looking to have a loan deal closed in the summer transfer window while keeping the possibility of a permanent move open, Sky Sports reported.

However, the report also noted that Barca is demanding a fee of £18.6 million ($25 million) for Neto which Arsenal deemed as “excessive.” International Business Times could not independently verify this information.

With the amount of Neto’s transfer reportedly already an obstacle for the Gunners, an even bigger demand is said to have been laid down by the 31-year-old. Apparently, Neto will only leave if he can be a “starter” in his new club, Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo reported.

According to the report, “the fact” is that Neto has no plans of departing Barcelona for Arsenal anytime soon. However, the player will be keen to comply if the north London club can “guarantee” that he will immediately be included in the starting line-up, the report said.

At this point, Neto’s representatives have yet to comment on the Barcelona star’s situation.

Neto is a veteran in the current Barca squad who hasn’t had much pitch time since joining the Catalan club from Valencia in 2019. In fact, the Araxa native has only played a total of eight games for Barcelona in two consecutive seasons.

Meanwhile, Arsenal’s reported interest in Neto may be one of the club’s first steps in Arteta’s search for a well-rounded goalkeeper.

According to the Spaniard, things didn’t go as planned in terms of signing players due to some conflicts that emerged at Emirates Stadium. However, Arteta assured that he is eager to sign a backup goalkeeper to provide competition and cover for Bernd Leno.

"The discussion we had in the summer within the club are a little bit different to what actually happened because of the transfer window and the situation that developed with Emi [Emirates Stadium]," Arteta recently told outlets, including Football.London.

"We didn’t have much time to do what we really wanted to do and we decided to assess the situation in this window which is what we are trying to do and we will make a decision on how we want to move forward in those three positions," he added.