Premier League linked Yuri Alberto appears to have confirmed on Instagram that he will stay at Internacional next season amid interest from Arsenal and Everton.
Inter president Alessandro Barcellos claimed earlier this week that Alberto, who has been linked with a £17 million move across the Atlantic, would be going nowhere next year.
And no wonder they’re so keen to keep him around.
Alberto scored 18 times in all competitions last season; form that attracted interest from Rafa Benitez’s toothless Toffees, amongst others.
Mikel Arteta’sArsenal are also interested.
They’ve been keen for a while, in fact. The Gunners first started scouting the 20-year-old frontman back in 2017, when he was a youth-teamer at Santos.
When will Yuri Alberto move to the Premier League?
Though Alberto is in no rush to leave a side who finished 12th in the Brazilian Serie A last season. Europe, it seems, can wait.
“The 2021 season didn’t end the way we wanted but we didn’t lack will or dedication,” Alberto writes.
“I thank God and everyone who helped me to make my best season as a professional player so far. I also thank you (the fans) for having lived unforgettable moments and made many dreams come true.
“You can be sure I will work a lot harder and dedicate myself so that 2022 is even better and that we all together can put Colorado (The Reds) where they should always be… at the top!”
Will Arsenal sign a new striker in 2022?
Alberto will not be heading to the Emirates then – well, not until 2023 at the earliest.
But that does not change the fact that, next summer, Arsenal will prioritise a new centre-forward.
Fabrizio Romano, the all-seeing, all-knowing transfer market doyen, believes the Gunners are ‘100 per cent’ certain to bring in a new number nine in the coming months.
That may have something to do with the fact that all three of Arteta’s strikers could bid farewell next year.
Alexandre Lacazette will be a free-agent in July while Eddie Nketiah recently turned down a new contract. As for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, well, the less said the better.
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