Some Arsenal fans should recall that at some stage ver the summer, the Gunners were heavily linked to Sporting wonderkid Joelson Fernandes.
It was reported by the Portuguese media that the Premier League side made a bid for the 17-year-old, but the offer was turned down and he ended up signing a new deal with the Lions.
This bid has now been confirmed in an interview that his father and agent gave to outlet O Democrata, from Guinea Bissau.
Eusebio Mango Fernandes claims that the likes of Ajax, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, RB Leipzig and Wolverhampton Wanderers were all interested in the winger, and it was Arsenal who made the highest offer.
Even though the other clubs offered between €1m and €5m, Arsenal put €20m on the table. The offer was attractive, but still not enough to convince them of a move, and Joelson signed a three-year extension with Sporting.
“It had to be a thoughtful decision, because my wish as a father and agent, on the day that Joelson Fernandes leaves Sporting, is to be friendly and through the big door, but not through the back door,” Eusebio Mango Fernandes told O Democrata.
“It was an extremely difficult and very complicated process, because there were tough moments in the negotiations for Joelson Fernandes to stay at Sporting. My wish was always for him to stay at the club, but due to his quality as a footballer, he had calls from several European clubs.
“Despite these very tempting offers, as an agent, I ended up dispensing with these invitations, despite knowing that I needed those millionaire offers, but I thought that in life money isn’t everything, because we must be aware that there’s a word called ‘gratitude’, for that, we are grateful to Sporting for what they gave.”
