A young central midfielder who is defensively sound and loves to pass the ball, Ruben Neves seems to fit the bill.

Whether or not you see Francis Coquelin as the long-term answer in Arsenal’s midfield, a replacement for Mikel Arteta will soon be needed and Neves appears to have all the attributes.

According to Portuguese newspaper O Jogo, the Gunners have been watching the midfielder, with scouts at each of Porto’s two games in the past week.

There are, however, a few issues. The first one is the simple fact that Porto don’t want to sell him.

“Ruben has a contract until 2019 and not until 2017, as sometimes I see in writing,” Porto president Pinto da Costa said recently. “And we would like to keep him at FC Porto, as a kind of João Pinto.”

This means any transfer would come at a huge cost, probably more than the £22m that is currently being reported. Porto are happy to sell but only on their terms, which means players like Anderson, Pepe, James Rodriguez, Radamel Falcao, Hulk, Eliaquim Mangala and Jackson Martinez have all left for extortionate fees in recent years.

Another issue is that he is represented by Jorge Mendes. Up until this point, Arsène Wenger hasn’t dealt with the super agent, who is consistently looking to move clients on and earn them huge contracts in order to make massive amounts of money. David De Gea, Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao are just some of his clients, as is José Mourinho.

William Carvalho is also represented by Mendes, and some feel that’s why Arsenal haven’t gone for the Portuguese midfielder. Ruben Neves may just be in the very same boat.