ARSENAL are poised to poach attacking midfielder Rafa Silva from Benfica with the Portuguese ace keen on a transfer to London.
The 27-year-old had been in impressive form before the coronavirus crisis brought the season to a halt.
The midfield maestro has chalked up nine goals and six assists in 25 outings this term.
According to Correio de Manha, the Gunners are chasing the Benfica ace – who is said to be flattered by the interest from North London.
But the report claims that the Portugal international has an eye-watering release clause of £71m as part of his current deal which expires in four years.
The cash-strapped Gunners are expected to find it difficult to stump up that fee as their already limited budget was hit by the coronavirus crunch.
The club may have to sacrifice at least one of four players including Alexandre Lacazette – to be in with a chance of doing business in the next transfer window.
Newcastle were thought to be working on a project to land the Benfica playmaker amid the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund’s potential £300m takeover of the club.
The Portuguese champions wanted £25million for the ace at his peak, but the Geordies hoped to beat them down to £15m.
And with the Primera Liga currently on standby the club may be forced to budge on their asking price and cash in to salvage funds for their own summer wishlist.
Silva played once during Portugal’s run to the Euro 2016 title but wasn’t involved for his country at the 2018 World Cup.
However his 17 goals in the 2018/19 season was only pipped by Benfica team-mate Haris Seferovic and Bruno Fernandes – who has hit the ground running at Manchester United.
Arsenal are favourites to land Feyenoord starlet Orkun Kokcu as replacement for Mesut Ozil this summer.
Reports in Spain claim that Mikel Arteta is set to spend between around £23million on the Dutch-born attacking midfielder.
The Gunners have already made contact with the 19-year-old’s representatives following his impressive spell of form but they will face a fight from Chelsea who have also been linked with the No10.
