Exclusive: Arsenal, Liverpool & Man United have all held talks over €100m star who wants PL transfer

Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United have all had some contact over the potential transfer of Benfica wonderkid centre-back Antonio Silva, who is prioritising a move to the Premier League.

Sources close to the deal have informed CaughtOffside of strong interest in Silva this summer, with Benfica willing to do business if they receive €100million for their star player, who would ideally like to move to a top club in England.

However, there is also interest from Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, CaughtOffside understands, and one issue at the moment is that most of the clubs involved in the race are not currently willing to meet Benfica’s €100m asking price for the 20-year-old.

It remains to be seen if further talks and negotiations could see that fee go down, while Silva himself will also be keen to ensure he’s playing regularly at his next club, so there are several factors still to be resolved here before his next destination becomes clear.

Silva transfer: Where will the Benfica defender go next?

If Silva is to prioritise regular minutes, he’d perhaps be well advised to choose Liverpool or Man Utd over Arsenal right now, with Mikel Arteta already boasting one of the best defensive partnerships in England and Europe in Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba.

Liverpool, by contrast, were not particularly solid in the season just gone and it arguably cost them as their title challenge fell away towards the end of the campaign, with Silva perhaps ideal to come in as a long-term replacement for the ageing Virgil van Dijk.

United, meanwhile, had a really poor season, finishing 8th in the table, and will surely want a major overhaul this summer, with Silva likely to be an important player if he comes in, replacing ageing stars like Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane, the latter of whom is also out of contract this summer.

Real Madrid and PSG will also surely be tempting for the Portugal international, but it would be exciting to see him challenge himself with a move to the Premier League.