Arsenal 'make £25.5m bid for Benfica's Marcos Leonardo'

The Gunners failed to bolster their frontline in the January transfer window, partly due to a lack of available targets but mainly due to concerns over Financial Fair Play regulations.

Having splashed out over £200m in the summer, Arsenal kept their warchest closed over the winter, as Mikel Arteta and sporting director Edu kept faith in the players at their disposal.

The chiefs' decision has been vindicated so far, where the Gunners have won each of their first Premier League games in 2024 with an astounding 33 goals in total, an average of just over four per match.

Those triumphs include 6-0 decimations of Sheffield United and West Ham United, matching Arsenal's biggest away league wins in history, and Saturday's 2-1 success over Brentford moved Arteta's men to the top of the pile.

Arsenal will finish the gameweek in first place if there is no winner in Sunday's battle between title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City, and their record of 70 strikes in the English top flight is unparalleled.

However, Arteta affirmed on Friday that his side's current phenomenal run will not change their plans for the summer window, and the Gunners are still expected to pursue a new number nine.

With Brentford's Ivan Toney and Napoli's Victor Osimhen - two prime targets - potentially costing over £100m and also attracting glances from elsewhere, TEAMtalk claims that an offer has been lodged for Leonardo.

The 20-year-old came through the youth system of Brazilian club Santos and racked up 54 goals in 168 appearances for his boyhood team, who sold him to Benfica for £15.3m in the January transfer window.

Leonardo has quickly adapted to life in Portugal, scoring four goals from his first seven appearances in the Primeira Liga and also registering an assist in a Europa League knockout round playoff win over Toulouse.

In addition, the 2003-born attacker finished as the second-highest scorer at the 2023 Under-20 World Cup with five goals for Brazil - only behind Chelsea's Cesare Casadei (seven) - as his nation reached the quarter-finals.

Leonardo is contracted to Benfica for another five years, though, and Manchester United are also said to be keeping tabs on the South American as they search for replacements for Anthony Martial.

Arsenal currently have Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus as their recognised centre-forward options, but the former is out of favour at the minute, while the latter is yet to return to the first XI since his latest knee injury.

However, Kai Havertz has found his feet at the tip of the Gunners attack and sent his side to the top of the Premier League with his 86th-minute header against Brentford, scoring for the fourth top-flight game running.

The German has already matched his best Premier League scoring season with eight goals in 27 games this term, having also achieved that tally in 29 matches for Chelsea in the 2021-22 campaign.