Arsenal tracking €100m wonderkid: Will Arteta break his rules to sign him?

Arsenal are one of a number of European giants tracking Gianluca Prestianni, the Benfica wonderkid who is increasingly being tipped to make a €100 million transfer in the near future.

Prestianni’s form in Lisbon this season has been exceptional. Across 13 games in all competitions, he has delivered nine goals and seven assists this season.

The 20-year-old’s rapid rise has not gone unnoticed. According to Argentine outlet TyCSports, Arsenal are just one of the major clubs following his progress. Newcastle, Aston Villa and Bayern Munich also want the winger, but out in front are double Champions League winners PSG, who have made a habit of signing promising prospects from Portugal and turning them into stars.

Arsenal have shown that they are not afraid to spend big money when they believe a player is worth it. They were ready to splash out on Vinicius Junior last summer if the opportunity arose, while they did spend €87.5m on Bruno Guimaraes.

Prestianni, who has a release clause of €100m, is therefore not out of reach.

The Gunners have also been told by the Argentine source that “a move this winter is not out of the question”.

Although Arsenal are top of the Premier League table, having made a strong start to the defence of their title, Mikel Arteta’s side have looked short of depth on the wings following Bukayo Saka’s latest injury.

Could the 20-year-old Prestianni provide an answer to this issue for Arsenal?

All the evidence suggests that he could be, largely thanks to the strides that he has made in his game over the course of 2026.

According to SciSports, no elite left winger worth more than €30 million has improved their game more than Prestianni over the course of the last six months.

And this is not based purely on his goal and assist return. SciSports’ SciSkill figure takes into account hundreds of in-game data points, both offensive and defensive.

Technically, Prestianni is already impressive. His passing, crossing and dribbling are exceptional, but he’s also tactically aware and takes up good positions in both attacking and defensive phases of the game.

Indeed, it is the youngster’s all-round game that makes him stand out. While he is decisive in possession, out of it, he’s shown a willingness to work intelligently and diligently. Defending counterattacks, for example, he is excellent.

One concern that will dog Arsenal, and indeed any suitors from the Premier League, is over his physicality. Prestianni stands at only 1m66, making him smaller than Lionel Messi. Whether he can withstand the rigours of top-flight football in England will remain an unknown until he has given it a go.

Prestianni checks many boxes for Arsenal, but Arteta would have to buck recent trends if he were to sign him.

Arteta has generally favoured players with Premier League experience or a proven track record at a high level. Prestianni’s diminutive stature does not make him an obvious candidate for Arteta to make an exception.

The age profile of the Argentine also raises questions. The Gunners' squad is made up primarily of players aged between 24 and 28. With the exception of Cristhian Mosquera, who was a bargain signing, the younger players have generally come through the Hale End academy.

Arsenal are not, therefore, a team with a recent history of signing talent as young as the Argentine, particularly for a price like the one Benfica are set to demand.

And there is also the thorny issue of Prestianni's clash with Vinicius Junior last season, when he was handed a six-match worldwide ban by FIFA after he admitted using homophobic language towards the Brazilian. For some, this incident alone would be a deal breaker.

Prestianni might not fit the usual Arteta recruitment profile, but his development suggests Arsenal could be looking at a player whose ceiling is considerably higher than even his €100m release clause suggests.