Football
ESPN staff 9y

Arsenal and Real Madrid target Lucas Silva wants summer move - father

Cruzeiro midfielder Lucas Silva is planning to move to Europe in the summer, his father has told MG Superesportes, amid claims Arsenal are now rivalling Real Madrid for his signature.

Lucas Silva, 21, has been strongly linked with a move to the Bernabeu, with his Cruzeiro teammates appearing certain the move will go through and the player himself talking up a potential link-up with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Marca, however, has reported that Arsenal have lodged a bid of 15 million euros, meeting Cruzeiro's asking price, while Madrid have so far refused to improve on their opening offer of 12 million euros.

The newspaper added: "Real are counting on the player himself to influence his current club into accepting their bid, as he already has an agreement in place with Real Madrid."

The player's father, Miguel Vieira, confirmed that Cruzeiro have no intention of allowing him to move for less than 15 million euros but indicated that he expects a move to go ahead.

"The objective for Lucas and at the same time for his family is that he moves in six months or so," he said in quotes translated by AS. "The idea is to close the negotiation now but he leaves in half a year's time. The important thing for him is to have preseason with the rest of the team and also play in the Libertadores with Cruzeiro."

However, it reported that Real are eager to add to their squad in January, and Miguel Vieira said: "If he wants things to work out in a different way and he moves to Europe before, we'll be delighted."

He suggested that they were only thinking of a move to Real in the interview, adding: "If the move goes ahead, we'll move to Spain to support him and be with him to assist with his adaptation to the new city, new teammates..."

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