Arsenal Transfer Rumors: Andre Santos to Brazilian Side Gremio

According to French newspaper L’Equipe, Andre Santos may be on his way out of Arsenal and back to his native Brazil to sign with Gremio.

The Arsenal defender has faced his struggles while trying to break into the first team after subpar performances against Schalke, Brighton and Hove Albion, and against Liverpool, when coming on for an injured Kieran Gibbs. His eagerness to attack when Arsenal break has become his biggest downfall, as he has shown an inability to track back consistently once such plays are dead.

In addition to looking much like a fish out of water when wearing the Arsenal red, Santos earned the ire of Gunners fans when he asked for Robin van Persie’s Manchester United jersey in front of television cameras while walking off the pitch at halftime at Old Trafford earlier this season.

Now it looks like he may just be heading out of Arsenal for good.

ESPN.com.br report that Gremio have until February 12th to wrap up any sort of deal with the Brazilian international, since registration for players has to be done 48 hours before the first kick-off of the Brazilian season. The club will have to pay a £10,000 fine if they fail to make their registration deadline.

The major issue with this time period is that the Brazilian festival, Carnivale, starts up this weekend, and the Brazilian Football Federation will be in recess from Saturday until Tuesday.

The transfer will not be an easy swap, as noted by Gremio president Fabio Koff:

“Andre Santos is one of our interests. We talked with Arsenal, but there is nothing certain. It is a very difficult negotiation.”

If Santos does happen to leave for Gremio, the Gunners would be potentially left in a bit of a bind for their upcoming matchup with Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

With Nacho Monreal cup-tied and Kieran Gibbs injured, Santos was likely to be selected to start in the first leg next week. However, if he leaves, Arsenal may have to rely on Thomas Vermaelen to fill the void. Vermaelen has experience at the left-back position and has played there for various periods over the past few seasons, but injury to either Koscielny or Mertesacker would thicken the plot.

Do you think Arsenal will allow Santos to leave? If so, is it the right move?

Leave your thoughts in the comment section down below.

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