Arsenal have held internal discussions over a potential move to bring Barcelona goalkeeper Norberto Neto to North London.
That’s according to the Daily Mail, who claim that Arsenal are still looking to sign another goalkeeper.
Arsenal signed Aaron Ramsdale last month, but Bernd Leno now wants to leave the club.
That means a replacement would be needed to challenge Ramsdale, and Neto is one of the options discussed.
Barcelona want Neto to take pay cut
Barcelona’s financial chaos has been well-documented at this point.
They lost Lionel Messi over the summer and still need to hack away at their wage bill.
eSport3, a part of Catalunya Radio, reported last week that Barcelona will soon approach Neto to take a pay cut.
Both Neto and Philippe Coutinho allegedly voted against restructuring wages in light of the global pandemic.
It’s therefore seen as a difficult task to convince him to take a pay cut now, with Barcelona desperate.
Neto has already snubbed Arsenal
Arsenal looked into signing Neto over the summer, but they signed Ramsdale instead.
The Athletic report that Neto didn’t want to be second-choice at Arsenal, hence his lack of interest in the move.
The situation won’t have changed much come January.
Arsenal would still want Neto to primarily be experienced competition for Ramsdale.
A pay cut isn’t really what Neto wants, but neither is joining Arsenal.
Neto still has more than 18 months on his Barcelona deal, so don’t expect to see him forced out in January.
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