With things still very unclear at Sporting, it’s hard to predict if the Lisbon side will be able to hold their players in the summer transfer window.
The local press still doesn’t know if any of the squad will terminate their contracts due to last week’s attacks at the club’s training ground, and that should have a big impact in the transfer market.
Jeremy Mathieu, for example, has been linked to Arsenal by the English press this week. It wasn’t a strong link, more a suggestion for new manager Unai Emery, but Record are running with it.
Covering it today, Record says there’s not much certainty of what Sporting could do to protect the defender from the Gunners.
Their paragraph goes as follows: ‘The defender is linked to the club for another season, so if Arsenal insists on signing him, they will have to reach an agreement with Sporting. Another scenario is the player advancing towards termination of contract.’
So even though Record cover Sporting on a daily basis, they still don’t know what will be of the players contracts. We’re pretty sure this process would take some time to be solved, so if Arsenal want the player and are in a hurry, they better negotiate with the Lions.