Arsenal Interested In €60m FC Porto Winger Otavio
Arsenal have been credited with an interest in Porto 27-year-old Otavio, but it looks like it could be a costly deal.
Going into the transfer window, many Arsenal fans were expecting the priorities to be a central-midfielder and a centre-forward, but the Gunners have been increasingly linked with right-sided players in the last few weeks.
Joining Leeds United's Raphinha and West Ham United's Jarrod Bowen on the shortlist is FC Porto's Otavio.
Portuguese outlet Record (via Sport Witness) report that Arsenal are the standout interested party for Otavio right now.
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That being said, there are a lot of factors working against a potential deal.
A major obstacle is the fact that the player himself isn't particularly keen to leave Portugal.
Otavio is comfortable at Porto, he plans to live in Portugal once his playing career is over, and in the immediate future he's worried about his World Cup chances.
Even at 27, the right-midfielder isn't a guaranteed call-up for the World Cup. He only made his debut appearance for Portugal last September, and it's only in the last couple of breaks that he's started to feature more regularly.
A transfer to a new league would mean risking his first chance to play for his country on the biggest stage of all.
Another issue is the fact that Porto don't particularly want to sell Otavio.
The wide-man scored five goals and provided 12 assists this season, including an assist in the Portuguese cup final as Porto won the trophy.
His current club are happy with his performances and hoping to keep him, if possible.
The only reason Porto will even consider a sale this summer is that they're facing some financial difficulties, which brings us to the price tag.
According to Record, Porto will only sell Otavio this summer for his release clause, which is €60m (£52m). That would put it in the same bracket as Ben White's transfer for the third-most expensive Arsenal signing of all time.
If Arsenal pay that fee, they still have to convince Otavio he'd start enough games - as a right-sided wide player in the same squad as Bukayo Saka. It's not going to be an easy deal to pull off.
Dan Critchlow