Five brilliant wingers Arsenal and Liverpool are fighting each other for after ‘stealing’ accusations
Arsenal and Liverpool may fight for two £60m Premier League forwards, a pair of phenomenal familiar faces, or a £149m option who struggles with Scouse.
Both clubs seem to be shopping in understandably similar markets for a right-winger. Arsenal want back-up and competition for Bukayo Saka, while Liverpool are preparing for whenever life without the beautiful reassurance of Mo Salah comes.
Which club will be over-celebrating one of these signings soon? It will go down well either way; Arsenal have been accused of “stealing” from Liverpool all week already, even before sharing transfer homework.
Pedro Neto
Arsenal and Liverpool know only too well the power that purchasing a forward from Wolves can do. Both have only ever signed one player from the Midlands club in their respective histories, and were so enamoured with the results they deigned never to repeat it for fear of jinxing anything.
Diogo Jota has been excellent for Liverpool despite some initial blurred vision as to whether his 2020 move would work, while among Alan Sunderland’s 73 goals for Arsenal was the winner in the 1979 FA Cup final, having callously scored against Wolves in the semis. Those are some powerful omens.
The Gunners and the Reds would be thrilled to give Neto the opportunity to follow those footsteps, particularly if the Portuguese could replicate his current form on a higher Premier League plane.
Gary O’Neil has coaxed some divine displays from the winger, who had a respectable 11 goals and 13 assists in 111 appearances for Wolves before this season, with three goals and 10 assists in 2023/24 as part of an unexpectedly irresistible attack.
With that comes an inevitable increase in the asking price; for a 23-year-old forward with more than three years left on his contract, £60m is pretty conservative if anything.
Michael Olise
There remains an element of mystery as to the exact figure written into Olise’s contract as a release clause, but reports suggest it sits around a similar mark, close to double the £35m Chelsea were willing to pay before the Frenchman baulked because he wanted to put his hamstrings through a season of Roy Hodgson.
That understandable decision has nevertheless offered only frustratingly fleeting glimpses of Olise, who has still crammed six goals and three assists into his 755 minutes for an otherwise stodgy, uninspiring and perhaps eminently doomed Crystal Palace.
Olise has been earmarked as the first signing of the new Man Utd era, while Chelsea are certain to still be sniffing around. But Arsenal and Liverpool should be able to strong-arm those suitors out of the race by playing the European competition card. They can have a fair fight from that point – until La Liga champions Girona sign Olise and kindly loan him to Manchester City.
Raphinha
Things have not exactly gone all Kalvin Phillips for Raphinha, but nor has the Nou Camp grass been much greener. Arsenal and Chelsea sought to tempt the Brazilian into retaining his Premier League status in summer 2022 but they were powerless to resist those economic levers.
Barcelona committed up to £55m for Raphinha’s services; he has made 48 starts in the 18 months since. A total of 14 goals and 19 assists is a fine return in the grand scheme of things but those limited opportunities can grate, especially for a small pond’s big fish when chucked into a vast and often nonsensical Catalan ocean.
While Raphinha might at least stick around to see how Barcelona respond to Xavi’s imminent resignation, it would only be sensible to keep his bags packed in case Barcelona need to sell anyone to avoid total financial ruin.
Leroy Sane
“I can just say positive things about Mikel Arteta,” Sane once said. “Since we started working together, he helped me a lot on the pitch. He tried to improve my football, he told me what I did good and what I did wrong, and he tried to work on it.”
The feeling is entirely mutual if previous Arsenal interest is anything to go by. Liverpool have also considered the credentials of a player whose Premier League past was brief but brilliant, with 39 goals and 46 assists in 135 appearances for Manchester City.
Sane has only developed his game further at Bayern Munich and has Harry Kane on the end of his chances now instead of Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. Despite that setback, he has coped well enough; no player has more league assists in Europe’s top five divisions this season.
Rafael Leao
It has already been scientifically proven that Liverpool signing Leao would potentially infuriate all the right people. One of the Portuguese’s past chats with Jamie Carragher suggests he might struggle with the accent at first, but as far as Salah successors go there are few as talented.
The AC Milan forward has been on the Arsenal radar for a while. There was some excitement in the fanbase when imminent signing Declan Rice spent some of his pre-season training with Leao in Portugal, but the presence of Bruno Fernandes and Joao Cancelo likely scuppered any undercover agent work.
Leao might also cost a bit; they recently told PSG to pay his €175m (£149m) release clause in full.
