Arsenal are reportedly lining up a £13 million move to sign Rui Patricio from Sporting Lisbon in the summer.
French radio station RMC Sport have reported that Arsenal have set their sights on Sporting Lisbon goalkeeper Rui Patricio over a summer move. They are now plotting a £13 million bid to sign the Portugal number one.
Rui Patricio progressed through the ranks at boyhood club Sporting Lisbon’s academy, before making his debut for the senior side as an 18-year-old in 2006. Since then, he has been a regular part of the first-team setup as a reliable presence between the sticks for the Portuguese giants.
Patricio has also represented Portugal at every level, and has long established himself as the national side’s first choice custodian. The 29-year-old has notched up almost 400 appearances for Sporting, while also playing 57 times for Portugal.
A solid tournament at the European championships last year saw Patricio play a fundamental role in Portugal’s surprise triumph in the competition. He was adjudged as the best goalkeeper of the tournament establishing himself as one of the best custodians in Europe.
Patricio has subsequently followed an impressive Euros with a top notch 2016/17 campaign for Sporting thus far. Even though his club is languishing 10 points behind Benfica in the race for the Liga NOS title, the shot stopper has remained consistent, conceding a mere 25 goals in 24 matches, keeping 10 clean sheets in the process.
His stellar showings in goal for Sporting and Portugal have not gone unnoticed by any means, as Patricio has been consistently linked with a move away from his boyhood club in the summer. However, Arsenal are, by far, the biggest of all the names to be linked with him.
The North London club are facing a sort of a goalkeeping crisis at the Emirates, following Petr Cech’s inconsistent performances this season. The veteran goalkeeper has made a number of high profile blunders this season, and there’s a growing clamour to replace him in the summer.
Cech’s backup, David Ospina has impressed on a few occasions, but has surprisingly not managed to usurp Cech as the first-choice for Arsene Wenger. And while Wojciech Szczesny has been superb for AS Roma in the last two seasons on loan at Stadio Olimpico, there is little clarity about his Arsenal future.
The Gunners are, thus, believed to be on the lookout for top quality goalkeeping options for the summer, and have been linked with the likes of Kasper Schmeichel, Joe Hart and Alban Lafont, among others in recent weeks.
Their hunt for a consistent and reliable goalkeeper has now led them to Rui Patricio, and they are now lining up a £13 million move for him. At 29, he is enjoying the best years of his career, and having come into his own in the last couple of years, he is certainly a viable candidate to replace Cech at Arsenal.
Patricio still has more than five years left to run on his current deal with Sporting, and it remains to be seen if he can be persuaded to leave his boyhood club for the riches of English football.
