The English club prepares a proposal based on a promise from Athletico

Tottenham Hotspurfrom England, is monitoring one of the main promises of the Athletico. The defender Arthur Dias19 years old, has been attracting the attention of European football with outstanding performances in 2026.

The English club sent representatives, who were at Arena da Baixada and closely followed the player in the triumph over Vitória, in the Brasileirão, and also in the draw with Atlético-GO, in the Copa do Brasil. The information was disclosed by the reporter Monique Vilelafrom the radio TMCand confirmed by OneTwo Sports.

According to the report, Tottenham has already consulted Athletico about the deal and should make a proposal for Arthur Dias to leave Brazilian football only at the end of this year. The idea pleases president Mario Celso Petraglia, who wants to count on the defender until the end of this season. The red-black president, however, hopes to negotiate it for at least 20 million euros.

The expectation then is that Arthur will come close to the values ​​of the biggest defender transfers in Brazilian football. Vitor Reis’s departure from Palmeiras to Manchester City, for example, was sealed for 35 million euros, around R$219 million. The sale of Lucas Beraldo, from São Paulo to PSG, from France, in 2023, for 19 million euros (R$ 101.6 million) in 2023.

Seen internally as a phenomenon in the Red and Black defense, Arthur has a contract until December 2028. According to the portal Transfer marketspecializing in transfers, Arthur’s market value is 600 thousand euros. However, the red and black board intends to keep the defender and only trade him in an international sale.

Defender leads Athletico statistics in the Brasileirão

Revealed in the youth categories, Arthur established himself as the main red and black defender this season. He is the team’s leader in interceptions (16) in the Brasileirão, as well as being second in tackles (18, behind only full-back Lucas Esquivel, with 24) and cuts (34, behind his defender Aguirre, with 51).

Even when the team didn’t do well and stumbled in the Copa do Brasil, Arthur Dias was the best on the field. The defender made every play and raised the crowd in the stands, in addition to being praised by coach Odair Hellmann.

“What the fans saw in him was an above-average technical performance. His decision-making, with and without the ball, was all correct. He has this technical ability, we all know. He is a guy who is ambidextrous, plays on the right and left, but he has things that he will look for as evolution for himself, to become better, stronger and more consistent. He is doing this with great concentration, he has evolved a lot and it is good that he is showing more regularity. He is a young man, you cannot forget that he has 19 years old, but he is already very mature for the level he is playing at. May he continue like this”, declared the coach.

In Europe’s sights, Arthur Dias overcame a failure in his professional debut and started as a striker

Even at his young age, Arthur overcame a failure on his debut for the professional team, in Série B 2025. In the 48th minute of the second half, the young defender pushed experienced striker Willian Bigode inside the area and generated the penalty that guaranteed a 2-2 draw against América-MG.

Despite the error, he was defended by coach Odair Hellmann and continued to be used in the access campaign, which gave him more maturity to take on the role as one of the starters in Series A.

This year, Arthur also became a kind of wild card for the red and black defense. According to his teammate, he plays on both the left and right sides due to his ability to play with both feet. With this ability, the defender tends to recover the ball more often and even dribble past rivals throughout games.

Furthermore, what few people know is that Arthur Dias was close to being released by Athletico while still in the youth categories. This is because the defender was an attacker, and needed to be convinced by Rodrigo Bellão, former coach of the Furacão base and who is currently the interim coach at Botafogo. After taking on the position, he even caught the attention of Luiz Felipe Scolari, while he was a coach.

“In the beginning it was a bit difficult for me, because I was always an attacker. But, as time went by, I saw that playing as a defender could be an opportunity for me. I’m very happy, I’m very grateful to Bellão and Odair, for giving me this opportunity. Now it’s time to keep working”, said Arthur Dias, in an interview with UmDois Esportes, in March.

With Arthur Dias, Athletico prepares to face the Grêmio. The game, valid for the 14th round of the Brasileirão, takes place this Saturday (2), at 8:30 pm, at Arena da Baixada, in Curitiba.