‘Close to Jorge Mendes’: Romano says Arsenal’s striker hunt has just become ‘very complicated’

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Writing in his column for Caught Offside, Fabrizio Romano has been divulging what he knows about the race for Darwin Nunez’s signature this summer.

Nunez is, undoubtedly, one of the hottest properties in Europe right now. He’s had an outstanding season for Benfica, and according to CIES, he’s the single-most valuable player outside of Europe’s top-five leagues.

However, according to Romano, signing Nunez has just become very complicated as the Uruguayan has recently changed agents.

The striker’s new agent is reportedly very close to Jorge Mendes, and that has complicated things for all parties concerned.

What’s the story?

Romano shared what he knows about Nunez.

“Manchester United have certainly discussed his name internally as early as March with Ralf Rangnick, but there is no official offer – it is certainly not yet the case to say that the club is “closing in” on Darwin, as others have said. We’ll see what happens with him in the next few weeks,” Romano wrote.

“Arsenal wanted him in January for sure, West Ham had offered €45million on Deadline Day but Benfica refused as they wanted €55m and now it could be closer to a €70/80m fee.”

“Now for both clubs the race has become very complicated – his agent has changed and the new one is close to Jorge Mendes; in addition, Darwin would like to play the Champions League, while Arsenal are oriented on Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus as a priority for the striker position.”

Tricky

If Jorge Mendes is to have a say in Nunez’s future then that’s not good news for Arsenal.

Mendes certainly has his favourite clubs to deal with, and sadly, Arsenal are not one of them.

Manchester United, on the other hand, have a great relationship with Mendes. After all, Cristiano Ronaldo is on their books.

Tottenham have also been linked, and Spurs are another club that maintain a strong relationship with Mendes through the likes of Nuno Espirito Santo and Matt Doherty in recent years, so this could be good news for Spurs.

This is certainly a situation to keep an eye on.