Arsenal joined Tottenham in pulling out of late deal to sign South American star

The January transfer window has now closed so we can look back on the deals that didn’t get over the line and those that are being lined-up for the summer. Today, Arsenal and Tottenham turned down Malcom…

Arsenal joined Tottenham in pulling out of a proposed deal to sign Malcom on deadline day after baulking at Barcelona’s loan fee demands, according to The Sun.

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Malcom has struggled to settle at the Nou Camp since joining Barcelona from Bordeaux in a £36.5m deal last summer with the Brazilian attacker starting just 1 La Liga game so far this season.

It led to speculation that the 21-year-old could be on the move this winter in search of regular football and Malcom was linked with a switch to north London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham throughout the January window.

Mauricio Pochettino was in the market for attacking reinforcements after losing Harry Kane and Dele Alli to injury and The Sun claimed that chairman Daniel Levy was prepared to sanction a loan move for Malcom if the deal was right.

However, the newspaper says Spurs ended their interest in signing the South American after learning of Barcelona’s huge financial demands and Pochettino didn’t feel the deal was worth pursuing for a player he wasn’t fully convinced by.

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That opened the door for Arsenal to try and snap-up Malcom on a short-term basis as Unai Emery looked to add a second attacker to his squad having already agreed a deal with Barca to sign Denis Suarez on an initial loan move.

However, The Sun claims that the Gunners joined Spurs in pulling the plug on any potential deal for Malcom on deadline day as they too were put off by Barcelona’s loan fee demands.

It means Malcom will now stay at the Nou Camp for the rest of the season to fight for his place in Ernesto Valverde’s starting eleven. Arsenal had to make-do with just one signing in January following the arrival of Suarez but for the second consecutive window Tottenham failed to sign a single player.