Arsenal have been linked with a transfer bid for a Brazilian wonderkid who’s just broken into the national side - but will they actually make a move?
Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti has used the current international break to blood a handful of youngsters, handing out first caps to a few members of the next generation – and among them was 21-year-old Corinthians midfielder Breno Bidon.
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Bidon’s first experience with the senior squad has afforded him the opportunity to play with his role model, Arsenal midfielder Bruno Guimarães, but this may not be the last time that the pair cross paths given that the Gunners are reportedly keeping close tabs on the youngster’s progress and have even made contact over a possible transfer. So just how good is Bidon, and could he end up at the Emirates with his hero in the near future?
The Brazilian wonderkid on Arsenal’s transfer radar
At the age of just 21, Breno Bidon has already made 146 senior appearances at club levelplaceholder image
At the age of just 21, Breno Bidon has already made 146 senior appearances at club level | Getty Images
Reports of Arsenal’s interest in Bidon first emerged over the winter, and Sport Witness now report that the Gunners opened talks with the midfielder’s representatives to determine the conditions for a transfer.
Those initial discussions never led to a formal offer, with the transfer fee likely to have been an issue. While interested teams are unlikely to have to pay the enormous £85m release clause included in his contract in its entirety, Corinthians still have the youngster under contract until 2029 and have enough leverage to demand a sizeable fee. At the time, Arsenal seem to have decided that a deal was too expensive.
They may not have moved on entirely, however. Several sources suggest that Arsenal continue to monitor the progress of a player who earned his first cap on Tuesday when he came on for Brazil as a late substitute.
The question is how keen Arsenal really are. They weren’t spurred into action by recent negotiations involving Besiktas, for instance – the Turkish outfit were believed to have agreed a transfer fee but ultimately failed to submit a formal offer, according to reports – but that may reflect the fact that they had just invested in Guimarães and had little need for another central midfielder rather than a lack of prolonged interest in Bidon himself.
With Martín Zubimendi’s future under scrutiny after he was knocked down the pecking order by Guimarães’ arrival, however, there is a chance that a vacancy could open up in the not-too-distant future, while the negotiations with Besiktas give us a likely price point.
Brazilian media outlet Globo reported that Besiktas were expected to pay a total of around £15.5m, with about a third of that amount paid in bonuses and add-ons. It remains unclear why they withdrew from the process, but it means that the youngster is still on the market going forward.
Arsenal’s interest seems to be sincere, but it’s unclear how high on their shortlist he is for now – but they will almost certainly continue to track his progress over the coming months. Will they see a player who could compete for a first-team place in North London, however?
Is Bidon going to be the next Bruno Guimarães?
Breno Bidon celebrates a Copa Libertadores goal against Rosario Centralplaceholder image
Breno Bidon celebrates a Copa Libertadores goal against Rosario Central | Getty Images
Bidon described Guimarães as a player he “really looked up to” in recent media interviews, and there are some definite comparisons to be made in terms of playing style – while Bidon is perhaps a little less physically aggressive than his new international team-mate, he has a similar combination of tenacity and technique.
A ball-winning midfielder given considerable freedom to get around the pitch and fight fires by Corinthians, Bidon is mobile and relentless off the ball and technically impressive on it, with his close control often standing out since he first broke into the first team in earnest back in 2024.
One issue which might have put Arsenal off of making a bid over the summer is that his production off the ball has tailed off slightly over the course of the 2026 Brasileirão season. Bidon is still working hard, but is making fewer interceptions and tackles while his total number of forced turnovers has dropped from a competitive average of 4.1 per game last season to 2.6 now.
His passing and ball-carrying have still been excellent and his form clearly hasn’t put Ancelotti off, but his defensive statistics are likely something that Arsenal will want to monitor – it may be a blip in the gradual evolution of his game, or it may be that he isn’t as effective as a defensive asset as had appeared to be the case when they first starting making enquiries.
Bidon still has a way to go before he’s at Guimarães’ level, and it’s likely that Arsenal have yet to launch a bid simply because he falls into an awkward middle ground whereby he’s not ready to compete for starts in their first team, but is too good to be a member of the reserve squad. How he progresses over the coming months will determine how his immediate future pans out in terms of his transfer options – but it’s clear that Brazil, at least, are optimistic.