Benfica have slapped a €40m price tag on winger Eduardo Salvio to ward off interest from Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham.

Reports in Portugal suggest that Arsenal are the latest club to join the race for the 23-year-old, after City and Tottenham were credited with wanting to bring Salvio to England earlier in the summer.

Benfica are yet to receive a formal offer for the Argentinian international but have taken the pre-emptive step of asking what they hope will be a prohibitive fee for the players services.

The Lisbon club are not in a position where they need to sell players, and clearly hope that asking Tottenham and Arsenal to break their record transfer fees to bring Salvio to north London will be sufficient to ensure that the wide man stays at Benfica for at least one more season.

Last month comments from Salvio's agent, Agustin Jimenez, suggested a move away was a possibility.