An Arsenal move for Bitello is progressing, but it’s moving slowly while the Gunners deal with other issues, according to a report.

Speaking on the Talking Transfers Podcast, Graeme Bailey claimed Arsenal are progressing in a move for Gremio’s Bitello, even if things aren’t going very quickly at the moment.

“Yeah that is progressing, it is going a bit slow,” Bailey said (via The Boot Room). “I think Arsenal have had other issues they’ve been dealing with.

“It’s not an expensive deal, Gremio are looking for a €10m (£7.5m) deal, it is a deal Edu has picked out.

“They really want the player, they like him a lot, they’ve done their homework on him. I think Arsenal believe they are favourites for him, but there is interest from elsewhere, Monaco, Porto, Zenit St Petersburg.

“They don’t have it all their own way, but Arsenal are confident of getting him in.”

Fabrizio Romano recently confirmed that Bitello is indeed one of the players Arsenal’s South American scouting team are following and monitoring, but he added things aren’t as advanced as others are claiming.

After a month of rumours, Romano claims we’re still waiting for an official bid.

A fortnight ago, Brazilian outlet UOL claimed Arsenal were interested in signing Bitello, and that club technical director Edu Gaspar was in contact with Gremio to try and close the deal.

But if those reports were accurate, they still haven’t led to much yet.

One further complication is that Radio Guaiba journalist Rafael Pfeiffer claimed Gremio are keen to keep Bitello for the remainder of the year, even if they agree to sell him this summer.

The Brazilian league operates on a calendar-year basis, so Gremio are currently in the middle of their season – hence their desire to keep Bitello around.

Gremio are in the semi-finals of the Copa do Brasil and competing towards the top of the Brazilian Serie A, sitting third with games in hand.

Bitello has made 36 appearances for Gremio this season so far, scoring seven goals and assisting four more.