Arsenal should pull the plug on £21m deal, it would be a mistake
Arsenal's pursuit of Corinthians starlet Breno Bidon should be ended as he is yet to prove himself in the Brazilian Serie A.
Mikel Arteta has done an impressive job of promoting Arsenal's youngsters to the first team in recent seasons.
The likes of Max Dowman, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly have had a real impact on the Gunners' fortunes after making waves in their academy ranks.
Arteta remains keen to blood the next crop of starlets into his squad in the years to come, but is now looking abroad for young players as 21-year-old Bidon is linked to the Emirates.
The versatile Corinthians midfielder made his senior Brazil debut last week after emerging as a regular for his boyhood club in the Brazilian top flight.
While reports claim that a deal could materialise ahead of January, his stats from the current Serie A season show that they should focus on other targets instead.
Breno Bidon has not even been a standout for Corinthians
Brazilian outlet Bolavip state that Arsenal are preparing an official bid for Bidon, having tracked his development for the best part of a year.
Corinthians value Bidon at around £21million, and it is claimed that the Premier League champions are willing to meet that figure as they plan for Bruno Guimaraes to help to convince him to join.
Bidon has not particularly impressed for Corinthians this season, however, racking up four yellow cards in the last six appearances for his club.
The 21-year-old also ranks poorly among Serie A attacking midfielders for several key metrics, with just 0.08 xG per 90 (17th percentile), 0.05 xA per 90 (37th percentile), 1.05 chances created per 90 (28th percentile) and 0.94 successful dribbles per 90 (43rd percentile).
He has just five goal contributions in 46 appearances across all competitions in the current campaign.
It surely makes little sense for Arsenal to pursue his services right now, as he does not look nearly good enough to have an impact on their first team at 21 years old, and they would be better off promoting their own young midfielders to Arteta's squad.
Bidon sees Guimaraes as a role model amid Arsenal links
Bidon counts Guimaraes as a teammate at international level after making his senior Brazil bow against Australia last Tuesday.
The Corinthians target has heaped praise on the Arsenal man amid rumours that they could soon link up in North London.
Speaking to Brazilian media last week, he said: “Of the current generation, Bruno Guimaraes is someone I follow closely. He had a very good World Cup and managed to stand out. He’s a player who’s already experienced a lot in football.
"He started young back in Brazil and is someone I look up to a great deal. From what I’ve seen of him, he has a very good, winning mentality. And on the pitch, there’s nothing more to say – he’s been playing really well."