Yuri Alberto will be on his way out of Internacional sooner rather than later amid interest from Arsenal, teammate Edenilson has told Futebol na Veia.
Perhaps inspired by the immediate impact Gabriel ‘talent of the century’ Martinelli made after joining Arsenal for just £7 million in 2019, the Gunners have been scouring South America for more uncut gems ever since.
But while Kaio Jorge couldn’t resist the allure of Juventus, and Brenner made a shock move north to FC Cincinnati, Yuri Alberto is still up for grabs.
The 6ft centre-forward took his tally to 14 for the season last time out, six weeks after grabbing the first hat-trick of his young career in “spectacular” style during a 4-0 thrashing of 2019 treble winners Flamengo.
Will Yuri Alberto finally move to Arsenal in 2022?
According to Globo Esporte, Arsenal have been watching the £15 million-rated Alberto since 2017, long before former Brazil international Edu Gaspar was appointed technical director.
While Martinelli was very much an ‘Edu signing’ for Arsenal, Alberto has been on the radar for a while.
La Liga giants Barcelona have also been linked.
And Edenilson, the long-serving Internacional midfielder, knows it’s only matter of time before his free-scoring teammate is handed his big break on the other side of the Atlantic.
“Since (Alberto) arrived, I have seen huge potential in him. I know that, soon, we won’t have him here any more because he has really huge potential,” says Edinilson, expressing his disbelief top-flight rivals Santos let Alberto go as recently as July 2020.
“It was surprising! We said: ‘Wow, how could Santos release such a player?’
“They cannot, with all due respect and I apologise for the sincerity, lose such a player.”
Interestingly, Alberto isn’t the only exciting young striker who could be on his way to Arsenal before long…
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