Premier League giants Arsenal may be about to step up their pursuit of Bitello after sending scouts to watch the Gremio ace in Wednesday’s Copa do Brasil clash against Bahia.
With Bukyo Saka nailing down the right-wing position in Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal attack, Arsenal have a decision to make in their pursuit of another right-sided forward.
Do they go large, and stump up a substantial sum for the likes of Malcom (Zenit St Petersburg) or Moussa Diaby (Bayer Leverkusen)? Or instead take a punt on a relative unknown? One who could set them back less than £10 million, but would arrive at the Emirates as a work in progress rather than the finished article.
With the big-money signings of Declan Rice, Jurrien Timber and Kai Havertz expected to eat up the majority of Arteta’s budget, the smart money may be on Arsenal’s dipping their toe into a familiar market in pursuit of another bargain buy.
Arsenal are looking at Gremio star Bitello
Bitello, at 23, is five years older than Gabriel Martinelli was when Edu Gaspar plucked him from obscurity back in 2019. But his outstanding performances on the right-hand side of the Gremio attack (seven goals, four assists this season) suggest that this relative late-bloomer is outgrowing his current pond, even if there may be doubts about whether he is ready to swim in far choppier waters.
Arsenal are certainly doing their due diligence.
After watching the midfielder-turned-winger during Sunday’s 2-0 defeat by Botafogo, scouts working on behalf of the Gunners will be in the stands again as Gremio take on Bahia in the Copa do Brasil tonight (Correio do Povo).
Unlike Saka, who likes to cut in onto his favoured left boot, Bitello is a right footer who likes to play on the right. He too causes problems when drifting into more central areas, however, carving defences apart with probing passes or bursting into the box with a turn of pace.
And Gremio’s head coach, Renato Gaucho, is under no illusions that – should an offer in excess of £8.5 million arrive – it may be impossible to stand in Bitello’s way.
“If a very good offer arrives for Gremio and for the player, it is difficult to deny (him a move),” Gaucho says, via Antena dos no Futebol.
“In this scenario, who has more money screams louder. And Europe has the money. The incoming offers will be analysed.”
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