Arsenal handed huge boost in race to sign top Portuguese sensation.

Arsenal appear to be leading the race to sign Joao Felix, with Atletico Madrid now ready to accept a loan move for the forward in January.

Arsenal are currently considering their options with Gabriel Jesus set to be out until March after successfully undergoing a surgery to repair a knee injury.

After failing to make an impact in Diego Simeone’s squad, the Portugal international is expected to leave the Spanish giants next month.

The 23-year-old forward arrived from Benfica for €126 million (£108 million) in the summer of 2019, but he has had trouble adjusting to the manager’s methods and approach to the game.

Atletico are now willing to cut their losses and have decreased their asking price to a total offer of €100 million (£86 million).

They will also consider loan bids with a pay of £8 million loan fee and full payment of Felix’s salary without any obligation to buy as clubs aren’t likely to make significant purchases in January.

According to AS, Felix is prepared to leave next month and hasn’t ruled out the idea of leaving Atletico into the summer should Simone stay at the Wanda Metropolitano for the upcoming season.

Arsenal, who will be prioritizing a forward in the upcoming weeks are the ‘best placed’ club to sign the former Benfica sensation.

Mikel Arteta has however suggested he could move Martinelli into a centre forward role while also naming Smith Rowe as another possible option to replace the injured Gabriel Jesus.

‘Speaking on Jesus’ injury, Arteta said;

It’s a huge blow for us, obviously, He’s such an important player: he’s brought something very different to the team and it’s impossible to replace him.

However, we do have other players and options, and we’ll work to resolve that. Another consideration is the transfer window.

“I believe that [Jesus] is a special player, but Eddie [Nketiah] also possesses outstanding attributes for the style of play that we prefer. We have more options because Martinelli can be played up front as well.

“Getting Emile [Smith Rowe] back is going to be a major one,” the coach said, “but we are currently a little bit short in terms of forward options.”