Arsenal plotting swoop for £20m star but face fierce competition from Chelsea to secure deal

After coming through the Brazilian side’s youth system, the 17-year-old made his senior debut earlier this year before establishing himself as a regular member of Vanderlei Luxemburgo’s first-team squad in recent times.

It seems the youngster’s impressive displays in the Brazilian top-flight have already attracted the attention of several big European clubs, including Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

It was even reported that Chelsea formalised their interest in signing the youngster this summer and submitted an offer worth up to £20m. But, Corinthians rejected that proposal as they were demanding more than that fee to let Moscardo leave the club.

However, it has been suggested that despite failing to purchase him in the recently concluded transfer window, the Blues haven’t given up on their hopes of signing him and could reignite their interest next year.

But, according to the report by Nicola(via Sport Witness), securing Moscado’s signature won’t be easy for Chelsea as Arsenal have also joined the race to sign him and they have already started ‘analysing’ the player’s development ahead of a potential move in the upcoming transfer window.

Battle

However, the report claims that the Gunners haven’t made a concrete approach yet to secure his signature, but things could change over the coming months.

Arsenal have been keeping a close eye on the Brazilian market since the appointment of Edu Gasper as the sporting director. They have purchased Gabriel Martinelli and Marquinhos in recent years with Martnelli turning out to be a great coup.Now, it appears Moscardo has caught the Gunners’ scouts’ attention in recent times. The youngster is a versatile player as he can be deployed as the deep-lying midfielder and can also play in the box-to-box role.

He is technically sound, good in the air, can dribble past opposition players in tight areas, can link-up the play from defence to attack and is also efficient in defensive contributions.

So, Moscardo possesses the necessary attributes to play for any top clubs around Europe. Therefore, he could be an excellent signing for Arsenal or Chelsea with a view to the long-term future if either club manage to secure his signature in the upcoming window.

It is going to be interesting to see who will win the race to sign Moscardo should Arsenal go head-to-head with Chelsea over this deal next year.