Arsenal have asked about Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid. The Spanish side want his wages paid in full plus an £8 million ($9.6 million) loan fee for six months, the Daily Mail reports.

Chelsea and Manchester United have also spoken about the Portuguese but the figures are deemed too expensive. However, the Gunners’ boss Mikel Arteta will be hoping to take advantage having urged the club’s board to back him in January.

TalkSport report that Chelsea and Man United may have backed out the race to sign. The newspaper says that “Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United have reservations about meeting Atletico Madrid’s £8 million loan fee for Joao Felix.”

The 23-year-old is available in January having fallen out of favour under boss Diego Simeone at the Wanda Metropolitano. Chelsea had previously been keen on Felix as they look to solve their goal scoring woes that have left them struggling in attack compared to their rivals at the top of the table this term.

Atletico paid £114 million ($137 million) for the Portugal star in 2019 but know it will be unlikely to recoup much of that given the 21-year-old’s inconsistent form at the Metropolitano since. Felix is adept to playing on the left flank, where he features for Portugal and where he started four of his country’s five games at the World Cup in Qatar.

Atletico CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin revealed earlier this month that the Portugal international is up for grabs – leading to interest from a number of Premier League clubs, according to TalkSport. Felix has been offered to Arsenal, Chelsea and United, with all three teams in the market to bolster their attack in the New Year.

During the tournament he netted in their opening game against Ghana while he produced two assists in the 6-1 demolition of Switzerland in the last-16. Despite the shock exit to Morocco, Felix’s impressive tournament has raised his stock again having fallen out of favour under Diego Simeone in the Spanish capital. He has only started five LaLiga games this term.

Meanwhile, Arsenal are being asked to pay £85 million ($107 million) m for their other top target Mykhailo Mudryk of Shakhtar Donetsk.

The Gunners have already had a £57 million ($69 million) bid rejected by the Ukrainian side, but the player has hinted he wants to join the Gunners after posting an image of him on social media watching their 3-1 Boxing Day win over West Ham.

Shakhtar’s deputy sporting director Carlo Nicolini had previously confirmed Arsenal’s interest in the Shakhtar star.

Nicoloni says, “Mudryk has received the message, like all the other players, to show up for the training camp in Antalya on January 9. Arsenal’s interest is there, I can’t deny it. However, today he is called up for the first training camp which runs from January 9 to February 9, then in Warsaw we will prepare for the next European games. “Many clubs have taken an indirect interest in Mudryk, without an official offer. There have been a lot of phone calls. I believe that today the Italian teams find it difficult to take a profile like this, both for what it is worth and for the lack of courage in investing in such a profile.”

• A Tell report/ Additional reporting by Daily Mail and TalkSport