OPINION
It seems as though director of football Victor Orta might be about to miss out on signing one of Leeds United’s transfer targets.
TeamTalk reported in February that Leeds were in the hunt to sign Ituano midfielder Gabriel Martinelli, who is considered as one of the best young players in Brazil and comes with a £10million price-tag.
Watford and Middlesbrough were also said to be interested in signing the 17-year-old, but TeamTalk’s report suggested that the Hornets had other priorities in Brazil and Leeds held more of an interest than Championship rivals Boro.
However it seems as though United’s hopes of signing Martinelli are about to be blown out of the water.
According to an update by Goal, Arsenal are plotting to bid £4million to sign the Brazilian.
It is understood that Martinelli is close to obtaining an Italian passport, which would mean he can avoid the drag of applying for a work permit if he was to move to the UK.
Arsenal’s board is said to be happy to bid for the midfielder, and an offer from the Premier League giants is more than likely going to be an offer that the teenager cannot refuse.
It is a huge blow for Leeds.
Martinelli is very highly-rated in Brazil and he would have without doubt been a good signing for the Yorkshire giants, not only for the future, but potentially for next season, such is his quality.
Orta should be tearing his hair out over this latest news because Leeds were said to have strong interest in him and the Spanish director of football is bound to have put a lot of time and money into doing research on the 17-year-old.
Leeds have built up quite a strong reserve of youthful players since Orta’s arrival at Elland Road, but Martinelli would have probably surpassed all of those at the club right now.