As Sporting continue finding barriers to renew Joelson’s contract with the club, the Portuguese press keeps naming Arsenal as the main threat to take the player away from Lisbon.
An update from O Jogo today says the Lions are having a hard time in the negotiations. Besides not being able to agree the new release clause, club and player are also showing differences regarding other numbers in the deal.
Meanwhile, Arsenal are said to be in ‘pole position’ to sign Joelson. The newspaper says the Gunners sent an emissary to Lisbon, where they’ve shown a willingness to pay between €15m and €20m for the winger.
Sporting are still trying to get the renewal, and a new meeting is scheduled for next week, however, given how things are going, the Lions are already considering selling the player.
These claims about Arsenal’s offer are pretty interesting because their visit to Lisbon had previously been claimed by the Portuguese press. Newspaper A Bola was the one saying the Gunners would send emissaries to Lisbon to try to sign Joelson this week.
Even though the youngster is protected by a release clause of €60m, the fact that his contract expires in one year may force Sporting to sell for much less.