Arsenal have decided to pull back from making a bid for Lyon midfielder Lucas Paqueta as they have three other players who can play in the same position as the Brazilian, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Italian journalist says the presence of Martin Odegaard, Emile Smith Rowe and new signing Fabio Vieira means there is no urgent need to sign another playmaker:

“I think he is not the main priority I am told for Arsenal now. So maybe something could happen in the coming weeks or at the end of the window, but the president of Lyon is really complicated, so it will be difficult to negotiate and Arsenal already have a number of quality players, they already have a number of quality players, they have Fabio Vieira, Odegaard signed last summer and they have Smith Rowe along with many others.”

Romano has backed up claims made by The Athletic’s James McNicholas that Paqueta is not a priority target for the Gunners at the moment.

It was reported earlier this week that technical director Edu had been speaking to the 24-year-old’s entourage to gauge the player’s interest ahead of a formal bid.

Lyon are believed to have put a €65m (£55m) asking price on Paqueta and, combined with the fact that Arsenal are well covered in that area of the pitch, it may have led to the London club cooling their interest.