Blockbuster transfer for Vinicius Junior would be "the biggest deal in Arsenal's history"

is being linked with an incredible move to Arsenal from Real Madrid, and here Sports Mole's Site Coordinator Ben Knapton discusses the possible transfer.

Ben Knapton, Site Coordinator: "I was just taken aback"

When I saw the David Ornstein bombshell on that, I was just taken aback. I had to take a few minutes to sit back and think: could this really be happening? 

We have to stress that, nothing has moved forward. It is still at an exploratory stage. 

There have been no club-to-club contacts and no real club-to-player contacts. Vinicius is in the last year of his deal, but he is scheduled for contract talks at the end of July. 

His priority is still to find an agreement with Real Madrid, but Arsenal's interest is real. It has been approved at all levels of the club. The playing squad would love to have him. 

Mikel Arteta would love to have him. The finance team have crunched the numbers and think it is a viable move. Financially, for the price that Real have placed on his head, it would be the biggest deal in Arsenal's history. 

It would also be the biggest deal in Arsenal's history from a pure transfer perspective. I remember in 2013 when Mesut Ozil joined the club and Arsenal fans were sent into an absolute frenzy. 

That was before the big Twitter accounts and the leaks that came before the transfers. People knew it was happening, but they were all gathering outside the Emirates or the training ground. 

Those Sky Sports News deadline day scenes where the fans all gathered around the journalists. I remember watching that throughout the day with Mesut Ozil, and that was the massive Galactico signing for Arsenal. 

A year later, Alexis Sanchez was in that same bracket and went on to do great things at Arsenal. Then Declan Rice is the most recent one. But Vinicius Junior would just break barriers in terms of what Arsenal have done in the transfer market. 

His chances of actually happening: I would still be flabbergasted if it did, given the finances involved and the fact that he still wants to sign a new contract with Real Madrid. 

But he is in the last year of his deal, and if he does not sign a new one, can Real really run the risk of letting him go for nothing next year? We will have to wait and see. 

But the fact that Arsenal are looking at a deal says a lot about the club's ambition, the ambition of Arteta and sporting director Andrea Berta. Just to see Arsenal's name legitimately in that conversation is really something.