Arsenal have entered the race with Liverpool to sign Porto midfielder Victor Froholdt, in accordance with reports.
The 20-year-old joined the Portuguese club in a €20 million (£17.4m) deal from FC Copenhagen last summer.
Froholdt has quickly established himself as a key player within the Porto side that won the Portuguese league title last weekend, scoring eight goals and registering seven assists across all competitions this season.
In response to Danish outlet Daring, Liverpool and Newcastle United are each showing ‘great interest’ in signing Froholdt this summer.
Meanwhile, The Times reports that Arsenal have been monitoring Froholdt’s performances for Porto this season but have been told by the Portuguese club a transfer fee in excess of £52m could be needed to sign the box-to-box midfielder.
Porto are in a powerful negotiating position as Froholdt still has 4 years remaining on his contract, which also features a £73m release clause.
Nonetheless, the newly crowned Portuguese champions are needing to finish at the very least one major sale in the summertime transfer window to be able to balance their books.
Speaking earlier this season, Porto president, Andre Villas-Boas, admitted his side had ‘difficult’ negotiations with FC Copengahen over a deal for Froholdt last yr because the Danish club ‘knew they’d a diamond of their hands’.
‘Our scouting team discovered him in time, before the massive clubs signed him,’ Villas-Boas said.
‘We spoke with Victor, the agent, and the family in Copenhagen, so we were near him from the beginning to persuade him to transfer to Porto. Fortunately, we reached an agreement, Victor transferred, and we’re very pleased to have him here.
‘It was a difficult deal because Copenhagen knew they’d a diamond of their hands. We were in long negotiations with the club and there have been also other interested parties who tried to sign Victor.
‘The mix of us being the primary to make contact and the conversations with the family to persuade him of Porto’s project were essential in his decision-making process.’
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