Arsenal goal Neto will NOT be allowed to leave Barcelona this month, Ronald Koeman confirms … after the transfer request was denied and the LaLiga club insist the goalkeeper is “important to us”
- Arsenal’s pursuit of runner-up Barcelona stopper Neto is already over
- Ronald Koeman confirmed the 31-year-old will not be able to leave this month
- The head of the Nou camp insisted that Neto remain “important” to his plans
- Mikel Arteta recently admitted that he would like to offer Bernd Leno a competition
Barcelona goalkeeper Neto won’t be able to leave the club this month despite Arsenal’s interest, Ronald Koeman insisted.
The Emirates team are hoping to create a first-choice competition for Bernd Leno after Alex Runarsson’s struggles upon arriving from Dijon – and are believed to have made Neto a potential target.
But Koeman seems to have already ended the speculation after stressing that the awkward stopper remains in his plans.
Goalkeeper Neto won’t be able to leave Barcelona this month, Ronald Koeman has confirmed
Arsenal reportedly weighed a move for Neto last summer as well, but Barcelona’s refusal to maintain a loan offer quickly ended negotiations.
And in this window, too, the La Liga giants have adopted a similar stance, although Neto’s agent has asked that the player be allowed to move on.
“When we talk about players, we are talking about teenagers,” said Koeman.
Koeman has insisted that his second choice stopper remain “important” to his plans this season
‘I’ve said several times that it might be good for some players to have more minutes to improve as a player.
“Neto is a different case, it’s true, his agent asked the club to keep going and we said no because he is important to us and we want to cover all positions.”
Neto came to Barcelona from Valencia for £ 23million in the summer of 2019, but has since struggled to oust Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
This season was similar for the 31-year-old. He has only played nine games and remains firmly behind Koeman’s number 1 in the rankings.
Alex Runarsson’s bad ads caused Mikel Arteta to step up between the sticks
Arsenal may now be forced to turn their attention to other areas after Mikel Arteta admitted that another competition was being considered for Bernd Leno.
He said, “There is nothing there yet. We are evaluating the situation with the three positions in the goalkeeping area and will probably find another solution in this window.
‘The discussion we had at the club over the summer is a little different from the actual discussion due to the transfer window and the situation that developed with Emi [Martinez].
“We haven’t had a lot of time to do what we really wanted and we have decided to assess the situation in this window, what we are trying to do, and we will make a decision on how we want to move forward in these three areas Positions. ‘
