Portuguesa striker Diogo Luis Santo has revealed his desire to ply his trade in Europe, after long-term admirers Arsenal were joined by Fiorentina in bidding for the Brazil Under 21 International.
The highly rated South America sensation is regarded as one of the most exciting prospects in world football, and speaking with ‘Elpenalti.com’, the 21 year old confirmed his love for Western football.
“There are two major Championships, and it is difficult to choose between them.”
“The English Premiership right now is one of the strongest in the world, and of course had two finalist in the Champions League. But already the Spanish League is getting stronger.”
“I think the main players from around the world are there today”
Arsenal remain on the trial of the pacy forward, but appear to have been priced out of a move. However, these latest comments about his future could bring the fee down, as he confirmed his ambition to play in Europe.
“I’m having a great life here [At Portuguesa], but i have a dream to play in Europe. I’m prepared if that happens now, but i respect my commitment to Portuguesa. I will only go if the proposal is good for me and the club.”
Salamanca based newspapers have also reported the Gunners interest, and it’s believed that if Arsenal manage to secure his services, he would be sent to the Segunda outfit on loan.
Italian side Fiorentina were the latest club to bid for Diogo last month, but their advances were also turned down, with the Portuguesa president quoting the figure of £11 million as the only fee they would release the youngster for.
Diogo has 18 goals in 24 matches for the Brazilian youth teams, and recently received a call up to the Under 23 side for the Olympic games in Beijing. He was then asked about what qualities his possess, the confident youngest was particularly shy in his response.
“It is very hard to talk about myself. I love to play at a high tempo, and finish chances, and because i used to play in midfield, i also have some characteristics like good passing and dribbling.”
Arsenal are sure to follow his progress over the summer, and while at the moment it seems a transfer to London is unlikely, an impressive tournament could see another flurry of bids for the prospect.
Article By – J.Sanderson
hmm seems a bit dodgy this transfer. i know we like to get the best youngsters in the world but if we keep adding to them ppl like rhys murphy, bendtner, barazite and theo will never get a shout! good article by the way!
Why are we waiting for his price to increase?
by the way J question, is there any truth in the statements made by hleb today because it seems to be all over skysports and the papers?
I wish! Arsenal never get any of these types of signings. Im getting worried about the lack of activity and wengers comments over the weekend!
At 21 if he did join us he would have to be in the 1st team and we already have a lot of strikers who are young and want games, so I can’t see us paying £11m for him which is a shame as he is a talent.
Ade, Persie, Dudu, Bendter, Theo, Vela… how many more do we need??
I agree with Tricky , the situation is getting worst , something needs to be done real very fast.
http:soccerfanbase.com
It is worrying that we have only bought 1 (very talented) 17yr old player so far and a few of our players dont seem as commited as I would have liked. J, is the Amaury Birchoff deal dead for good and do you think we are bidding our time in case we can’t sell Hleb before we buy anyone else?
we missed out on Robinho like this, I think?
Perhaps there are WP issues, but didn’t Man U sign a heap of Brazilian youngsters recently. Where are they?
J Is Denilson in the Brazil squad for the Olympics?
On Diogo, whilst I support our plans for purchasing top youths around the world at 21 surley he is too good for the Spanish second division and I doubt we will purchas yet another forward
Tricky I wouldnt worry too much about Wengers supposed comments over the weekend, I mean the NOTW is not exactly a reliable source of information. Wenger would never say that we are a selling club for many resons, 1) It shows that we have a lack of ambition 2) This would be the worst business move ever cos clubs would be after all our players at a cheaper price, knowing that we have to sell. (which i dont beleive we do). So I doubt Wenger actually said that.
As far as Diogo goes he seems a good prospect and i think we could get him if the price is Right, But I would imagine he would go spain 1st to get an EU Passport.
J.S Great article, tell me do you think that with Hleb/Ade still being linked with a move away do you think Arshavin is a realistic target for us?
Bischoff’s previous contract has expired so hes free to sign, he was just waiting for wenger to return…
J. he probably was in the prelimanary squad but he won’t go to the olympics with Brazil.
Hleb is getting more desperate for a transfer, he’s trying to attract interest because he’s affraid no one wants him. That’s why he’s coming out saying BS.
J. are there any other players we’re strongly linked to, that are not strikers?!! (midfielders, defenders)
we’ll probably lose ade and hleb, and they’re both a loss to afc if they go. i just don’t see who we have to replace esp. w/ flamini gone as well. our thin, young squad getting thinner and younger. at 6 3″ diogo could be a replacement for ade, but near term it’s still a big loss for us as diogo would need time to develop. just when ade is maturing he’s off, shame he couldn’t stick around to earn a higher wage like titi. one good season and ade’s become a self involved punk. hope i’m wrong about him and he’s a better person than that. titi was 29 when he made that kind of money, that’s five more years ade. you think you’re that much better than henry?, man, you’re headed for a fall fella, one off year at barca and you’ll be on then bench and eventually shipped off to a small time club left to ponder where it all went wrong. if you’re lucky after several years you can make it back like anelska, but much older and past your prime. wenger is a loyal coach who gives repeated chances to his players, but he won’s suffer fools.
does anyone know when arsenal starts pre season training?
21st July – start of pre-season
I think pre-season training started yesterday. I really doubt that if we sign Diogo that he will be shipped off to Salamanca. First of all he is way to expensive for that. Second of all he is too good for them, it won´t be hard enough of a challenge. Third of all, I doubt that he would want to go to second tier in Spain when he could play in the higher quality Italian or Brazilian leagues.
Has Arsene Wenger lost his passion and ambition? I mean, does he really want to win the champions league at least one time in his managerial career?
I really can’t understand Wenger sometimes you know……Barca want Ade and Hleb, so why don’t we do a swap deal which will see Ronaldinho and some cash coming Arsenal’s way, and Ade going the other, then use the sale of Hleb and the surplus cash from the Ade sale to finance a deal for David Villa or Hunterlaar.
Surely that combination will be more potent than anything in Europe today, and can guarantee Arsenal the double at the very least next season.
Just imagine Ronaldhino in the red and white of Arsenal, killing teams off with deadly set pieces, and lay assists for the likes of Van Persie/Dudu/David Villa…..wow, what a thought, sadly though at Arsenal, life sometimes can be an empty dream.
Because Ronaldhino is an overpriced, over paid party boy these days. He is not the same player of 3 years ago.
You forgot overweight.
Have you seen Ronaldinho Lately? No Thanks. If/when Ade & Hleb go I would want Yaya and Arshavin. But this aint pro evo or champ manager and I am not Wenger. So im just gonna sit back and trust Arsene in the transfer market. The same Arsene that has won us 3 league titles and taken us through an umbeaten season on limited funds.
is the arsenal pre season starting today, i heard aarom ramsey mention it in the welsh enwspaper
John maybe he ment the reserves pre-season?!! I hope we can get a lot of information here on the pre-season, reports, pictures maybe some video’s :D
JS are you planning to cover the pre-season extensivly?!! I’ll send you a sixpack of genuine Heineken from Holland for every report :P
no its for player who ddnt play in the euros finals or semi finals i tink.-diaby, denilson, clichy, sagna, maybe adebayor, almunia, fabianski, bendtner, rosicky, toure,senderos, van pesie pretty much the first team i think fabregas gets another two weeks, but yh its the first team squad
Pictures will be posted on the arsenal website
Seeking clarification: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/football/7494600.stm. The article does not list Diogo in the Olympic team
This is off the topic but I was hoping JS or anyone else could tell me – the photos involving Nasri that were taken down from the Arsenal website – what did they depict? Him at the stadium or something?
no they were old photos, not him in an arsenal shirt or anything like that
Cheers tkn. How odd. The mind boggles as to why they were there. Obviously people can purchase photos from the site but I’m sure that doesn’t include opposition players and I can’t recall Arsenal having played Marseille for a long time. Strange.
okay okay :D Great that it’s all starting again for Arsenal, we can focus on our current players instead of worrying about ongoing tranfer saga’s.
Which people on this blog also have season tickets for Arsenal?!! I want to get some info on the best game to visit next season, I’m think of coming to the first game of the season?!!
I agree Moushin. It was just talk of photos for pre-season that had me thinking about that Nasri thing.
Eduardo should be back in the UK soon which is good stuff. What are the thoughts on Diaby playing in the middle. It does seem consistent with some of AW’s comments. Let’s face it – he wasn’t bought to play on the wing…
This guy’s not even in the Brazil squad for olympics.
Wenger..pls consider buying some decent defenders as well..our defence was not so good last season ..senderos is simply not good enough as cover for Toure and gallas..I’m not so sure about Djorou either ..
Song is too short to play in central defence..he’s better off on defensive midfield…we also do not have cover for Clichy as Traore is not yet quite ready..
Traore is in fact a better left sided midfielder than left back…PLS ..we need defensive reinforcements in order to avoid the heartache of last season !!!!
How do u know that James? I’d like to see the official Brazilian squad for the olympics, i know Denilson definitely aint in it. I swear this Diogo fella has got a portuguese passport…if thats the case then he will, more than likely, be Ade’s replacement if he goes and if AW decides he needs another striker. If he hasn’t, take it from me, he aint coming here cos he will need to spend a minimum of 3 yaers in Spain or Portugal or something in order to gain an EU passport (this way he will be 24 yaers old before he can make his Arsenal debut – AW will not spend over £10m on a player who can only play for the club after three years)…. Personally i would just promote Nacer to the first team if Ade goes…
I hope we get him and then send him on loan for two seasons but to a first division team in spain or portugal and i am sure we could get a small fee for his loan
Defensive reinforcements are Djourou, Nordtveit, Senderos, Bartley and Song. If Gilberto stays then he too can play there. I would be surprised if Wenger buys a CB this summer. He would go for Veloso as the centre mid but Sporting are aving a laugh (£23m)! De La Red from Getafe (£15m). These teams need to realise we aint the fucking Mancs or the dumb Chavs – WE NEVER PAY OVER THE ODDS!! We WONT buy a Senna or Frings or some old defensive mid. We already got one in Gilberto. If AW buys a midfielder he will be a young man you have never heard or heard little about before. If AW buys, lets say a Zapata or a Richards for £15m and upwards and we dont win nothing again next year then we’re as bad as the Mancs and the Chavs. Even United who did the “Big Double” last year didnt recoup what they outlayed last summer in prize money. This is why they “BUY” their success whereas we go about it the right way. If we win either the CL or the EPL next year, NO past success (even the Invincibles season) would surpass the joy we will all feel….
Sniff – There were three pictures. One i didnt see, but the other two were of him playing for France, and the other was him laughing during a France training session.
They were new pictures, because they showed the new kits.
I would very much like arsenal showing their ambition by keeping their star players. Chelsea and Man Utd (Liverpool as well) are buying star player to win the title. Arsenal may not afford to buy stars like the others do but I think they can keep hold of the star players they make. Otherwise arsnal will end up been the English version of Ajax.
By the way have you ever seen the Jimmy Briand guy from Rennes in France. He is very young and sooooooooo..talented.
I’d love to see him in arsenal shirt. What do you guys say?
To TJ…apart from Ajax who (without spending a fortune) won the champions league with a group of fantastic youngsters in 1995 ..can you tell me of another clubside in recent years that has achieved sustained success in a major league or the champs league without splashing out some major cash…truth is..we’ve gone three years without a trophy and I don’t agree that if we buy a Richards and end up not winning anything it makes us as bad as the mancs or chavs as we can always try the year after…sometimes ..as a manager you’ve got to gamble sometimes…it could pay off or it could not…or are you happy to continue with trophyless seasons ?
Fully understand what ur saying mate but buying big does not guarantee silverware does it? Plus AW is a man of integrity. He sticks to his word. It is HIS policy to buy young unpolished gems. The younger you buy them, the better as then they will have more of an “Arsenal Education”. NO other team in this country can work with youngsters the way Arsenal do, nor does any other manager in the league, maybe europe, share AW’s philosophy on the game. He buys them young, trains em up the “Arsenal Way” and brings em in slowly like that…when he bought these youngsters he PROMISED them that if they prove to be good enough then they will make it. So when Alex Song comes in for the last 5 games or so of last season, plays well (hardly put a foot wrong in a position he isn’t best accustomed to) and then you turn round and buy a CB to play there the next season then thats AW going against his word with these guys. It’s just not his way.This is a very young side, the youngest average age in the EPL, and they play the likes of Man Utd at OT and Chelsea at SB off the fucking park. The reason we didnt win anything last year is cos of ADEBAYOR AND EBOUE’S SLOPPY END PRODUCT. Even Ade’s goal against the Mancs was fucking hand-ball. He was terrible and CLUELESS in that game. I dont wanna hear no gooner try and back him. HE AINT ARSENAL MATERIAL, AND NEITHER IS EBOUE!! Wenger’s mistakes last year were playing Kolo at right-back and playing Eboue ahead of Theo. That’s all. We were unlucky last year. END OF!! If Eddy didnt break his leg and we had either Rosicky or RVP for a few more games than they ended up playing then i’m pretty fucking certain we would done the double those pricks ooop nooorf got their greasy, stinking mitts on. There is A VERY FINE LINE between success failure. Remember Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown BOTH almost scored own goals against us at OT?, i think both came off the post or something. But they got VERY, VERY LUCKY, and this happened cos of our domination of the game. Had them shitting themselves and making silly mistakes. So when i see u lot make ur comments all concerned like, “Oh its been three years”, and “J, why hasn’t Nasri signed yet?” i dont sweat. I know the current squad are VERY strong. Even better than that Ajax team that won the European Cup mate. No joke.
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