On Monday, Portuguese newspaper Record decided to stop splitting stories and made a big article showing all the players who could still be leaving Sporting this month.
From all the Premier League clubs mentioned, Arsenal had a special attention, since they reportedly sent scouts to watch Sporting’s 2-0 win against Marítimo on Saturday.
But between the five players who are listed in the article, the only one who’s linked to Arsenal is the midfielder William Carvalho.
Arsenal’s interest in Carvalho dates back to 2014, when the Gunners would have reportedly offered €30m for the player.
Carvalho was a promising youngster back then, but the speculation has dragged ever since. He’s now 24, and despite having an average season for Sporting, he did very well at Euro 2016.
As Record writes, the player currently has a €45m release clause, but Sporting need to give him €5m if they refuse an offer bigger than €35m. It was said he’d leave for much less at the end of last season, but the Euros really changed demands.
Arsenal have also been linked to Islam Slimani and João Mário this summer, but they aren’t shown as candidates to land these players in Record’s story.
Given the purchases of Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny, Carvalho would maybe be an odd addition, and would be likelier in a future window rather than this one.
