Arsenal now ‘take the lead’ in race to secure €100m Man Utd target in January

Joe Williams
Arsenal target Joao Felix celebrates scoring a goal

Premier League side Arsenal are now leading the race to sign Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix, according to reports in Spain.

The Gunners are currently top of the Premier League heading into Christmas with Mikel Arteta’s side building up a five-point lead over second-placed Manchester City.

However, there chances of maintaining their lead over the defending champions has taken a blow with news Gabriel Jesus could be out for a while after having surgery on his knee.

There has been lots of speculation that Arteta and technical director Edu will agree to go into the winter transfer market to find a replacement with Eddie Nketiah their only other senior striker.

A number of names have been linked – including Atletico Madrid’s Matheus Cunha – but his team-mate Felix is a reoccurring name with Atletico CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin recently revealing that Felix wants to leave the club.

“[Joao Felix] is the biggest bet this club has taken in its history. I personally think he’s a top talent, a world-class player,” Gil Marin told TVE in November.

“For reasons it isn’t worth getting into – the relationship between him and the boss (Simeone), the minutes played, his motivation right now – it makes you think that the reasonable thing is that if there’s an option that’s good for the player, good for the club, we can look at it.

“I’d love him to stay personally, but I don’t think that’s the player’s idea.”

And now Spanish publication Marca claim that Arsenal have ‘taken the lead’ in the race to sign Felix, who has also been heavily linked with Manchester United.

The Portugal international’s good performances at the World Cup have put him in the shop window with Paris Saint-Germain trying to cosy up to his agent Jorge Mendes, while ‘a bunch of English teams are in the fight’.

Man Utd are interested after there was a ‘gap created’ by Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure, while Mendes apparently likes the idea of doing business with Chelsea after their change of ownership.

But it is now Arsenal ‘taking the lead’ as the Premier League gets set to restart on Boxing Day and even Aston Villa has Felix ‘among its objectives’ for the winter transfer market.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano recently revealed that Atletico Madrid want in excess of €100m for Felix and that the 23-year-old is “open to a new experience”.

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