Arsenal have expressed interest in signing 22-year-old central midfielder Gerson Santos da Silva.  

The young Brazilian has impressed Arsenal technical director Edu Gaspar who is akin to finding talented players from Brazil, most notable is Gabriel Martinelli who Gaspar found in the Brazilian third division.

Gerson currently plays as midfielder for Flamengo in Brazil’s topflight. He has two goals in seven games this season and is considered an extremely raw prospect.

The highly rated youngster combines strength and pace in his game and enjoys playing further up the pitch.

When he was just 16, Gerson attracted interest from Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus, but nothing eventuated. From when he was 18 to when he was 20, Gerson had a stint in Italy with Fiorentina and Roma.

The youngster didn’t impress in Italy and was moved back to Brazil. Gerson’s father, Marcos Silva boiled this down to his son being “shy” and the fact that Italy is too “tactically disciplined” for a young player.

Silva, in an interview with Yahoo, is the one who broke the news that Arsenal, and other clubs like Tottenham are interested.

Whether this is just smoke to generate interest in his son, or Arteta is planning to sign another young prospect, remains to be seen.

Arsenal are set for a summer shake up with midfield and defence being amongst the most vulnerable positions.

Cover Image: Eurasia Sport Images