Even though there was a verbal agreement for Joelson’s contract renewal with Sporting, there’s been a ‘step back’ in the negotiations, according to reports today.
Portuguese newspaper A Bola says the reason for that was a contact from Arsenal, who’ve been interested in the 17-year-old.
The extension was ready to be signed, and with Joelson willing to keep his release clause at €60m and Sporting trying to raise it to €80m, they had agreed to set it to €70m.
However, Arsenal asked about the winger’s situation ‘in the past few days’, and that’s what delayed the deal.
A Bola points out that Joelson’s agent Kia Joorabchian has a very good relationship with the Gunners, and is now changing the requests for a deal.
The demands are now for the release clause to stay at €60m, and the sides should have new discussions this week.
Joelson was ready to sign a five-year contract with Sporting, with a salary of €120k per season at the club.
