Pedro Neto’s £50m transfer decision was extremely easy amid interest from
Man Utd and Aston Villa
The Wolves winger has become a transfer target for a number of Premier League clubs.
According to the fickle beast that is Wikipedia, the name “Neto” is a generational suffix, used to refer to when a Portuguese speaker shares the same nickname as their father and grandfather. Think of it like “III” in English. I only mention this because in the case of Pedro Lomba Neto, the Wolverhampton Wanderers winger, it looks like he’s being tipped for a move to Arsenal because his chest is as high as a continent’s knees. locust. However, the rumors still persist.
There’s a reason why Neto, as he’s commonly known, is the darling of gossip columns. All too often, in the Premier League and beyond, a player will begin to dominate his club’s relatively modest aspirations until his clear, monolithic potential can no longer be ignored. via; Declan Rice would be a suitable recent example. Jack Grealish could be another. In these cases, it’s often just a matter of time before a member – or in some cases, multiple members – of the traditional big six is prowling around, showing off their tail feathers and shaking their wallets . It’s the kind of ritual and ritual cycle you could almost imagine being told in an Attenborough documentary.
Anyways, it would appear that Neto is the latest object of these such desires. According to 90min, the 23-year-old is still attracting interest from the Gunners, who have been particularly impressed by a start to the season that has already yielded one goal, four assists, and a salvo of praise from casual observers. Elsewhere, Aston Villa and Atletico Madrid are also credited with their own respective admirations, while transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has tentatively suggested that Manchester United could look to lure the wide man to Old Trafford as a replacement for the disillusioned Jadon Sancho.
But while the prospect of an all-inclusive stay at the Overlook Hotel might be tempting, surely Neto will find it difficult to resist Arsenal’s charms. Indeed, were it not for the serious knee injury he sustained in April 2021, a cruel cosmic rupture that left him sidelined for 10 whole months, the Gunners might already have made their move for the £50 million-rated attacker. Regardless, the fact that we are still sat here, ruminating on Mikel Arteta’s pursuit some two-and-a-half years after Neto’s world was torn asunder, would suggest that Arsenal are not only genuine, but that they have a tangible plan for the Portugal international. By contrast, you suspect United barely have a plan in place in case of their team coach gets a flat tyre.
Because ultimately, this feels like a question of trajectories. Arsenal’s project is hurtling steadily upwards at quite a pace, and those associated with the club at the present moment in time are benefitting from that velocity. There is, of course, a considerable element of symbiosis involved, but over the past handful of seasons, the likes of Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard have gone from promising prospects to certified world class talents. The Gunners are a club that, in essence, provide a working environment which encourages individual growth to serve a more holistic gain. (To their credit, the same could be said of Aston Villa under Unai Emery, but given a choice between Champions League and Europa Conference football, surely the decision is a fairly simple one.
At the other end of the spectrum, Manchester United are a club where careers/reputations/dreams generally go to wither and wilt. We have reached a stage whereby a player making a success of their time at Old Trafford has become the exception, rather than the rule itself. Why that is the case is hard to say; indeed, if I had the answer perhaps I would be the grouchy bald man in the dugout, and not Erik ten Hag.
But whatever the reason, the reality remains the same. United is not a destination that naturally elicits a belief that new signings will be able to further their career there. Maybe that is a factually accurate assessment, maybe it is not, but the fact lingers, perceptions matter.
With that in mind, given a straight choice between the Gunners and the Red Devils, Neto’s decision feels like an absolute no-brainer. And I’m afraid that could be bad news for United.
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