Edu negotiation tactic has saved Arsenal £20m for Lucas Paqueta transfer pursuit

Arsenal have been one of the busier Premier League teams during the first few weeks of the summer transfer window.

The north London outfit have already added four first-team players to Mikel Arteta’s young squad, bringing in Brazilian frontman Gabriel Jesus, young attacker Marquinhos, Portuguese attacking midfielder Fabio Vieira and veteran keeper Matt Turner. Still, the Gunners appear far from finished in the market, with Jesus’ former teammate Oleksandr Zinchenko appearing to be the next Manchester City star to swap the Etihad Stadium for the Emirates.

Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has reported that a £30million move has been agreed between the two clubs, £10million less than West Ham insider Claret and Hugh had claimed the Citizens were demanding for the Ukrainian earlier in the window. And it is not the first time that Arsenal have successfully persuaded Pep Guardiola’s side to lower their asking price for a player this summer.

In fact, ESPN had claimed last month that the reigning Premier League champions were demanding £55million for the aforementioned Jesus before technical director Edu was able to negotiate a deal for £10million less. The Gunners’ transfer chief has therefore saved £20million from those two deals alone, an impressive sum that could be used towards additional signings during the remainder of the window.

One player who has been heavily linked with a move to north London in recent times is Lyon playmaker Lucas Paqueta. Arteta is ‘pushing’ for Arsenal to sign Paqueta this summer, as per French outlet Media Foot and the Gunners would be getting a top-class player if Thierry Henry’s previous comments are anything to go by.

Speaking about the former AC Milan midfielder to Amazon Prime Video, via Foot Radio, back in October of last year, Henry said: “It’s early but frankly what he’s doing… we talked about it after his match at the Parc des Princes.

“Yes, I like dribbling and blind passes, but what I like is his desire, his activity, his selflessness, his commitment. In general, this is not the case with all Brazilians. A player who is fine is a little harder to replace or he is less at the service of the team when he does not have the ball. What impresses me with this player is that he does both with a smile. He defends and attacks with a smile. For me, that’s why we can already speak of one of the best players in the championship.”