Shakhtar Donetsk winger Bernard has claimed that Arsenal could have signed him from Atletico Mineiro last summer but they did not have the money.

The 21-year-old Brazilian eventually joined Ukrainian champions Shakhtar from Atletico Mineiro in a £20m deal.

Bernard told FourFourTwo magazine: "We had offers from Tottenham and, according to my Atletico president, Arsenal were interested too - but they didn't have the money. All of it happened in a moment in which Europe was facing a serious financial crisis, so while there was interest from various teams, the only one able to pay straight away was Shakhtar."

Bernard was named in Luiz Felipe Scolari's Brazil World Cup squad on Wednesday.