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What's the story?
Manchester United and Arsenal may be finalising the swap deal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alexis Sanchez, but the two clubs will be on opposite sides as they battle for FC Porto midfielder, Danilo Pereira's signature.
According to a report in The Sunday Express, who got it from The Sun, both clubs are quite keen on wrapping up a deal for the defensive midfielder. The same report claims that the Red Devils and the Gunners have been scouting Danilo for quite a while, although Burnley, Sporting Gijon, Celta Vigo and Atalanta are also interested in the midfielder, who is valued at £20 million.
In case you didn't know...
Danilo bounced around Lisbon's youth systems as a child, curiously enough playing for a club called 'Arsenal 72'. Following a rejection from Benfica, he moved to Italy and signed for Parma. Loan spells in Greece (Aris Thessaloniki) and Netherlands (Roda JC) followed; before Danilo moved back to Portugal in 2013, signing for Maritomo as a 22-year-old. He impressed in the two seasons that followed, with Porto parting with £4.05 million in 2015 for his services.
The heart of the matter
Such has been Danilo's rise to the limelight, that Porto have tied him down to a long contract, set to end in 2022. The defensive midfielder also has a release clause of €40 million, although Arsenal and Manchester United may be reluctant to pay that fee.
Arsenal have let Francis Coquelin leave, and have no true defensive midfielder in their squad apart from Granit Xhaka. As for Manchester United, they have been linked with Jean Seri and Lassana Diarra in the last week and thus might be in the market for a central midfielder.
Rumour Reliability
3/10
The Sun is hardly the most accurate of news outlets when it comes to transfer rumours, so take this with a pinch of salt. However, Arsenal and Manchester United are both in need of defensive midfielders, and Danilo would bring experience while also not breaking the bank, so perhaps there is a bit of truth to this rumour.
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Author's Take
Danilo would actually represent a clever signing, especially if he comes for £20 million. In today's inflated transfer market, that would fetch you very little normally - instead, either one of Arsenal or Manchester United would get a Euro 2016 winner, who already has the experience of playing in the UEFA Champions League. Danilo's defensive nous is rather impressive, and at the age of 26, he is approaching his peak years - and perhaps it is time to move to a more challenging league.
