Wolves prodigy tipped for £60m Arsenal transfer despite Liverpool and Aston Villa interest

Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Pedro Neto has been tipped to join Arsenal over Liverpool in the January transfer window after a scintillating start to the season. The 23-year-old has contributed one goal and five assists in eight Premier League matches so far, forming a clinical partnership with fellow forward Hwang Hee-chan.

Competition for Neto is set to be fierce as 90min has credited both Liverpool and Aston Villa with interest, as well as Atletico Madrid and clubs in the Saudi Pro League. But there’s only one team Neto should move to, according to former Premier League and England international defender Glen Johnson.

“I do believe he could have an impact at one of the Premier League’s biggest clubs,” Johnson told Betfred. “He’s a natural left-footer, he’s very direct and he likes to push defenders back. He seems to have the whole package and obviously he’s very quick as well, so I can definitely see him playing for one of the big teams in the future.

“Out of all the clubs currently linked with him, Liverpool is probably the team that need him the least. Liverpool already have Mo Salah, Luis Díaz, Darwin Núñez, Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota at their disposal, so I don’t know how much game time he would get at Anfield, but he could definitely get game time at Arsenal in my opinion.

“Arsenal would benefit from that kind of explosive player and they probably thought they had that when they signed [Nicolas] Pépé. I think Neto would be better suited to Arsenal than Liverpool,” Johnson continued, failing to mention Villa. Unai Emery’s side could be a dark horse in the race but it’s merely just interest as it stands.

Neto, who joined Wolves from Lazio in August 2019 for around £15 million, currently has a market value of just above £30 million, according to Transfermarkt. It’s likely a transfer would demand far more than that, however, given Wanderers would be selling to a divisional rival. Wolves legend Steve Bull reckons it could be as much as quadruple the fee paid four years ago.

“He’s absolutely flying at the moment. The talent and skill he’s got, it’s unbelievable,” Bull told Ladbrokes Fanzone. “I don’t know how much he’d go for, though. I’ve seen Ruben Neves go, I’ve seen Raul Jimenez leave, you see some of the fees these days... I’d put Pedro Neto somewhere between £50-70m,” Bull continued.