“We said no” – Barcelona boss Koeman appears to block player’s transfer to Arsenal | OneFootball

Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman has seemed to suggest he’s blocking the potential transfer of goalkeeper Neto to Arsenal following recent speculation.

The Barca backup ‘keeper has supposedly been targeted by Arsenal, according to a recent report from Sky Sports, but Koeman has now been quoted as confirming some interest from unnamed clubs, but with the Catalan giants turning down offers for him to leave.

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“If we talk about players, we talk about youngsters. I’ve said several times for some players it could be good for them to have more minutes to improve as players,” Koeman is quoted by the Metro.

“Neto is a different case, it’s true his agent asked the club to move on and we said no because he’s important for us and we want to have all positions covered.”

This is a blow for Arsenal, who could do with a more reliable understudy to Bernd Leno at the moment, with Emiliano Martinez missed since his summer move to Aston Villa.

The Argentine had filled in superbly for the injured Leno towards the end of last season, but his replacement, Runar Alex Runarsson, doesn’t look as reliable.

Neto has been a solid squad player for Barcelona and might be just the upgrade Mikel Arteta needs, though it seems the Gunners may now have to look elsewhere to solve this particular issue.