Arsenal linked with Porto star, a good deal?

Bengaluru, Aug 12: Arsenal's interest in Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey has been well-documented for quite some time but it seems that the Gunners might have to miss out on the Ghanaian international as they are not willing to meet his release clause of £45million.

Atletico Madrid are adamant that they won't sell for anything lesser and chances of any deal look very slim right now. This has prompted the Gunners to look elsewhere and they have reportedly gone back to one of their long-term targets as an alternative for Partey. It is strongly reported that the Gunners are ready to make a move for Porto midfielder and club captain Danilo Pereira this summer.

Arsenal tried to bring the 28-year-old to the Emirates last summer but Porto were not happy with the £27m offer from the Gunners back then. It is claimed that the Portuguese champions are more than happy with that amount right now but the Gunners are only willing to pay two-third of that, £18m. Should the Gunners follow up their bid with improvement, a deal could be done in the next few weeks. Here, we will try to analyze whether the Portuguese international would be a good addition to the Gunners or not.

Journey so far

Danilo Pereira is one of the biggest examples of a late bloomer. After coming out of the youth ranks at Estoril and Benfica, he moved on to Parma in Italy back in 2010 and failed to make much of an impact.

He had two loan spells with Aris in Greece and Roda in The Netherlands before moving to Martimo in 2013 where he made his impression and eventually was snapped up by one of the top clubs in Portuguese football FC Porto in 2015.

Since then, he has been immense for the Portuguese giants and also became their captain. A two-time Primeira Liga winner with the club, he has been capped 37 times by Portgual as well and won both the European Championship in 2016 and UEFA Nations League in 2019.

Style of play

Danilo Pereira is a versatile footballer but he looks most natural in a defensive midfielder. He can also be useful as a number eight and even as a centre-back thanks to his all-round game. Thanks to a frame of 6 ft 2 in, Pereira is incredibly strong in the air and he is hard to be out-muscled. He is well-disciplined to play in the number six role and is also a solid ball-player, exactly what we expect from a modern-day defensive midfielder.

In many ways, the Portuguese international resembles Liverpool star Fabinho and Arsenal should be more than happy if he can actually replicate even half of what Fabinho has done at Anfield. The 28-year-old almost has no weakness in his game and also has played in different countries and therefore, it should not be too hard for him to adjust in English football.

Do Arsenal need him?

Arsenal are among the few clubs in the Premier League who need additions in almost every department and the area that is craving the most for reinforcements in the central midfield. Granit Xhaka has had an up and down season at the Emirates that involved clashing with the fans and stripping him of the armband.

Things seem to have changed in recent weeks though with Xhaka having reinstalled himself under Mikel Arteta. On the other hand, futures of both Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi look up in the air while Arsenal are looking to make Dani Ceballos' move to the club permanent. In such a scenario, Arsenal badly need to add more options in the middle of the park and Danio Pereira should prove to be a good deal for the Gunners.