Reports of an Arsenal bid for Matheus Franca have been denied, but the Gunners are monitoring the player, available for €25-30m.

In recent days, reports suggested Arsenal had made an initial bid of £15m for Flamengo’s Matheus Franca, but these claims have been rubbished by Fabrizio Romano.

Romano writes that Arsenal haven’t made any proposal or bid for Franca, and the Gunners aren’t even in any kind of talks or negotiations for the signing.

The journalist reports that Franca is indeed one of the talents monitored by Arsenal in Brazil, but they’re just one of more than three clubs in the race for the signing.

Newcastle United reportedly had a €20m (£17.3m) bid turned down by Flamengo in January.

The Arsenal Informer report that Arsenal, Newcastle United, and Bayer Leverkusen are among the clubs interested in Franca, with the Gunners emerging as the frontrunners.

According to the same report, Flamengo are likely to accept a bid of €25-30m (~£22-26m).

Reports from April suggested that Arsenal had sent scouts to watch Franca during one of Flamengo’s Copa Libertadores matches, with Crystal Palace also watching him at the time.

Franca has made 26 appearances for Flamengo in 2023 so far, following his 22 appearances in 2022 and two appearances in 2021, so he’s making major steps forward with each passing year.

In total, the midfielder has scored nine goals across his 51 games for the Flamengo senior side.

As well as his involvement at club level, Franca has made a couple of appearances for the Brazil u20s. He has a contract with his current club until 2027.

Arsenal’s summer business looks to be focused on high-profile deals for midfielders and defenders, but it would certainly be no surprise to see the club making some moves outside the top-five leagues as well.

That’s been a common theme of previous summers, from Marquinhos to Albert Sambi Lokonga and Pablo Mari.