The summer transfer window will soon be upon us and Arsenal fans are already getting excited about who the club could bring in to bolster Mikel Arteta's squad.
It has been a difficult season for the Gunners, with Arteta's side in ninth place in the Premier League table, with almost as many defeats as wins.
And attention will soon turn to transfers and how much money Arteta will be given to spend on new signings by owner Stan Kroenke this summer.
Arsenal have already been linked with a number of players, including Achraf Hakimi, Jack Grealish and Yves Bissouma, with the supporters keen to see loan signing Martin Odegaard stay on a permanent basis too.
There are likely to be outgoings too, with question marks over the futures of Alexandre Lacazette and Hector Bellerin, to name just two.
Bellerin is wanted by Barcelona, and Arteta has already intimated he would like to strengthen in the full-back departments, with the club trying to sign a left-back in January.
And now a new name has emerged as a potential replacement for Bellerin - Emerson Royal.
Emerson is a 22-year-old Brazilian who currently plays in La Liga with Real Betis, playing in all but four league games for the team challenging for the European spots this season.
A fee in the region of £21.5million has been mooted for the defender, but Arsenal will have a rather large problem in trying to get a deal over the line.
Emerson does not only belong to Betis. Yes, you read that right, he also belongs to Barcelona.
When he made the move from Brazilian outfit Atletico Mineiro in 2019, he signed on dual terms with Barcelona and Betis. He has been on loan with Betis since then and Barcelona can take him back to the Camp Nou, for a fee of €6million - little more than £5million.
If Barca make it clear they want to keep him, he will go back to the Camp Nou, if not, Arsenal can make a move for him.
Barca could, of course, decide to pay the £5million and then sell him to the highest bidder to make more money. However, what it all means is that Arsenal are likely to have to wait to find out what Barca plan to do before making their move.
And Football-Espana go so far as to report that Barcelona cannot sell him until the summer of 2022 and would have to split the fee with Betis.
All in all, a pretty complicated situation.
