Arsenal transfer news: Club working on deal to sign £40.5m-rated midfielder

This summer is set to be a potentially defining one for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta.

The 2020/21 season was one to forget for the Gunners, the team finishing eighth in the Premier League and crashing out of the Europa League at the semi-final stage.

Arteta's squad is in desperate need of a rebuild this summer and a number of high-profile players have already been linked with moves away from the club.

Midfield general Granit Xhaka is one of them, with Sky in Italy reporting that the 28-year-old is in talks with Jose Mourinho's AS Roma.

If Xhaka were to swap London for Rome, Arsenal would have to find a like-for-like replacement.

The Swiss international was one of the team's most consistent performers in 2020/21 and the midfield was noticeably weaker when he was absent.

But luckily for Arsenal fans, the club's hierarchy are now working on a deal to sign a player who would fill Xhaka's boots perfectly.

As reported by The Times, the Gunners have turned their attention to Ruben Neves.

Wolves have made the Portuguese star available for transfer to help raise necessary funds for incoming manager Bruno Lage.

The Athletic previously claimed that Neves could be available for just £35 million and according to The Times, that's pretty much what Arsenal expect to pay for him.

For a 24-year-old with his unquestionable talent, that fee is pretty modest in our book.

Neves is one of the best midfielders in the Premier League and is a regular in Portugal's senior squad.

The £40.5 million-rated maestro's passing range is up there with the very best and on paper, he looks like the perfect partner for Thomas Partey in the middle of the park.

Partey would provide the steel, energy and defensive nous in midfield, while Neves would operate slightly ahead of the Ghanaian as the team's deep-lying creator.

It sounds like a match made in heaven to us.

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