Journalist James McNicholas has now encouraged Arsenal to abandon the chase for one of their summer transfer targets.
Arsenal have been urged to forget about trying to sign Pedro Neto.
Arsenal have been linked with a move for Wolves winger Neto for some time. The Portuguese attacker is undoubtedly talented. He has bags of pace, plenty of flair, and can be a devastating force in the final third. Wolves have put a £60 million price tag on Neto for good reason.
Mikel Arteta will almost certainly be in the market for a new winger this summer. He clearly lacks faith in Reiss Nelson, as the Hale End academy graduate has not been handed a single Premier League start yet this season. This state of affairs has only served to increase the burden on Bukayo Saka. The 22-year-old starts week in, week out, and there is no suitable cover or replacement for him in the Arsenal squad.
Neto has been described as the “perfect” player to come into the Emirates Stadium and offer cover and competition for Saka. Like the England man, he is a left-footed right-winger, meaning that he can naturally replicate Saka’s tactical function in the team. What’s more, the 24-year-old can also comfortably play on the opposite flank, meaning he also offers a rotation option for Gabriel Martinelli.
However, Neto’s recurrent injury issues are now a major concern, which may well give Arsenal pause for thought before making a concerted effort to secure his signature.
Why Arsenal must now look beyond Pedro Neto
In his last outing against Fulham, the attacker picked up yet another hamstring injury. Metro later reported that Neto is now set to be sidelined for the rest of the season. He already missed almost all of November and December this season due to a similar issue.
Recurrent injury issues have severely impacted Neto in the last two campaigns, too. He does not seem to be able to maintain his fitness for an extended period of time, which is clearly an issue, and one that Arsenal can’t afford to look beyond.
James McNicholas certainly feels that a move for Neto at this time would be unwise. Speaking on the Arsecast Extra podcast, the reporter said, “it’s a tough one for me because I love the player. I really, really think he’s incredibly exciting, and sort of tactically, technically, stylistically such a good fit for us. But, yeah, I think it probably is at the point where you go ‘I don’t know if this is a good idea.’ Unless there’s some sort of nugget of medical information that would give Arsenal more comfort, or a surgery that could be done that would resolve his problems for good, I just think, why would you take on that level of risk?”
Availability is the best ability, as they say, and for all of his other talents, Neto cannot offer that key quality. As such, Arsenal must take their search for a winger elsewhere.