Insistence that player could be set to join Manchester City for around €45m, we take a look

 

It seems the Portuguese press won’t stop forcing William Carvalho towards Manchester City.

The homegrown Sporting player is completing 150 games for the club this weekend, and the story surrounding it from local newspaper Record doesn’t focus on his achievements for the Lions.

The story’s headline and first paragraph are all about how the player could be joining Pep Guardiola’s side soon, as the manager’s brother Pere is now his agent and could make a move easier to happen.

Then they take Bruno de Carvalho’s quotes from last week to say that only his release clause, or something close to it, would take him from Sporting. And that would be €45m.

Although the Portuguese press frequently credit these links to the UK papers, it was them who started the speculation right after Pere Guardiola was announced as Carvalho’s new agent.

Before that, the player had only been heavily linked to clubs such as Everton and West Brom, with older interests from sides as Arsenal and Manchester United disappearing with time.

Carvalho may end up joining Manchester City as a squad player in the future, but the way the Portuguese papers treat Guardiola’s chase for him sounds completely exaggerated.