Barcelona will have to pay €50m to sign Arthur from Gremio, Real Madrid also interested

Gremio president Romildo Bolzan has reiterated that midfielder Arthur will not be allowed to leave the club for less than €50m (£44.1m, $59.2m), which is the release clause in his current deal with the Brazilian club.

Barcelona have been hot on the trails of the Gremio midfielder and are hoping to bring him to the Camp Nou either during the January transfer window or in the summer.

The Catalan giants are not the only club in the hunt for the Brazilian as Real Madrid have also registered their interest in signing him. But the European champions will have their task cut out as Arthur is said to favour a move to their arch rivals rather than the Santiago Bernabeu.

It was Gremio's vice president Odorico Roman, who first confirmed that the club will not lower their asking price for the midfielder, which has now been backed by the president, who has made it clear once before that they will not stand in Arthur's way if interested clubs pay his full release clause.

Barcelona are leading the race for his signature despite a number of clubs from across Europe being linked with a move for the midfielder. The La Liga side's technical secretary Robert Fernandez is already said to have met with the player and his family with regards to a move to Catalonia, and the meeting turned controversial when the player was pictured alongside the Barcelona chief wearing the Blaugrana's shirt.

Barcelona issued an apology to Gremio, who were not impressed by the club's actions. The Catalans, however, are yet to make a formal offer after Bolzan confirmed that they are yet to receive any offers for Arthur and is unsure if the Spanish club are planning to move for the midfielder in January or in July next year.

"Gremio has already expressed the value of this negotiation, and we hope that if Barça comes with an offer, they pay their 50 million clause directly, which is fixed in their contract," Bolzan said, as quoted by Spanish publication Sport. "There is no possibility of negotiation, the price is its clause."

"I do not know what the Barça interest is, I do not know what they think, I do not know what they prefer, so I cannot say if it will be now, or if it will be in July, I do not have an exact answer for that," the Brazilian club's president explained.

"Nobody has sent me any offers, right now we have absolutely nothing on the table, we cannot analyze any proposal because it has not even come in. So, we are waiting to see if it arrives, and if it does not arrive, then Arthur has contract with Gremio, and he recently renewed it, so he will continue with us, which is what we want."

"We do not know any contact of Arthur with Barcelona, ​​beyond one, that of the photo with the Barça shirt," he added.