Arsenal ‘best positioned’ for January signing despite Liverpool ‘willing to do something crazy’

Arsenal are ahead of Premier League rivals Liverpool in the race to sign Sporting Lisbon defender Goncalo Inacio, according to reports.

The Gunners are currently top of the Premier League by a point from the Reds after they drew 1-1 against each other on Saturday at Anfield.

Both sides are in a great position to mount domestic and European challenges this season and there could be some business done in January to help secure their objectives.

One position which both sides are reportedly looking at improving is at centre-back and there are reports that they could battle it out to sign Sporting defender Inacio.

The Portugal international, who has been capped five times for his country, has already played 145 times for Sporting over three-and-a-half seasons as a member of the first team.

Liverpool and Man Utd have been linked to Inacio for a while now but reports last week claimed that Arsenal are now firmly in the hunt for Inacio.

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And now Portuguese newspaper A Bola claim that Arsenal are now in lead to sign Inacio with the publication insisting that the Gunners are ‘best positioned’ in the race.

It is understood that Sporting are even accepting that they could lose him in the winter transfer window as the centre-back has a €60m release clause in his contract.

Arsenal are ready to ‘advance for the signing’ as Mikel Arteta looks to improve the depth of his squad ahead of the Premier League title run-in.

The current centre-back pairing of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes has earned praise from fellow Arsenal defender Ben White after a great start to the season.

“They are unbelievable together. They are so strong and powerful. They make it easier for everyone around them,” White said of the Arsenal duo.

“They just don’t do too much wrong, do they? They are so consistent every game.

“No one is dominating them speed-wise or strength-wise. It’s hard for strikers to come up against and find anything positive to come out of the game.”

Speaking about the Gunners’ draw against Liverpool at Anfield, White added: “I think when you come here it’s so, so tough and to come away with a point is probably a positive.

“That’s what we have got now, we are such a positive team. We wanted to come here and win, and I think you see that from our performance.”