Newcastle, Liverpool and Aston Villa eye £53m winger trying to end Arsenal's Champions League dreams

Newcastle United have been linked with a move for a Porto star that has already put a dent in Arsenal’s hopes of Champions League glory.

The Gunners came off second best in the first leg of their round of 16 tie against the Portuguese giants as a late Galeno strike finally broke the deadlock and ensured the Primeira Liga side will travel to the Emirates Stadium with a slim advantage in next week’s second leg. The 26-year-old Brazilian winger certainly showed his bullish side as he insisted his side will head to North London with the sole aim of claiming a place in the quarter-final by finishing the job against Mikel Arteta’s men.

Speaking after his first leg goal, he said: “The merit of my goal belongs to the whole team for everything we did in the 90 minutes. We worked well, defended well and the energy was there, on the pitch. I had the opportunity to shoot and I was fortunate to score a great goal that gave us with the victory. The team wins with my goal and I'm glad I helped my team go home with the victory. Nothing is won, though. We’re going to London to try to do what we did here and be a compact team, defending well. We’re aiming at coming back home with a ticket to the quarter finals.”

As his focus remains on helping Porto to domestic and European success between now and the end of the season, Galeno has also had to deal with speculation over his future after Portuguese news outlet Record suggested Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester United and Aston Villa have watched him in recent weeks ahead of a possible summer move. The report reveals Porto rejected a £25m move for the winger during the January transfer window and confirmed the presence of a £53m release clause in contract he agreed midway through the current season.

Intriguingly, Galeno is represented by Brazilian agent Giuliano Bertolucci, who counts the likes of Magpies star Bruno Guimaraes, Wolves forward Matheus Cunha and Aston Villa defender Diego Carlos amongst his list of clients.