By ’Tayo Amosu
September 12, 2014
Contrary to reports that Sporting Lisbon President, Bruno de Carvalho would seize the opportunity of a Soccerex Global Conference to be held in Manchester, to generate some interest in William Carvalho, Metro now says Arsenal and not Manchester United indeed are poised to hold talks with the Portuguese club executive over the transfer of the player.
As things stand now, Arsenal appear to be in the driving seat to sign the powerful holding midfielder, who has been linked to the Gunners in the past few months.
The Sporting President had since been in Manchester the venue of the conference and the report claims the deal could be finalized by the end of the week.
Carvalho’s £37m release clause reportedly expired at the end of the transfer window and Arsenal may just grab the opportunity to sign the player even lower than the requested £28m valuation of Sporting Lisbon.
Manchester United under Louis Van Gaal were thought to be in the pole position to sign the 22-year-old Portuguese from Arsenal’s weak grasps as the Gunners were thought to be slacking in their quest to sign the player.
Before the close of the transfer window, Portuguese newspaper O Jogo revealed that Arsenal is the club showing the most interest in the 22-year-old Sporting Lisbon defensive midfielder, William Carvalho despite the news especially from the British Press, that the player would be a Manchester United player by deadline day owing to the speculated sensational £25m bid the Red Devils were thought to be preparing.
It is understood that Sporting Lisbon chief executives were not happy about the fact that the player did not make a move away from the club before the deadline as they were willing to cash-in on the sale of Carvalho and now they appear more desperate with the President practically hawking the player in England.
Arsene Wenger though has Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini to serve as midfield anchormen, the need for a relatively young, versatile, strong and energetic player, with an eye for the ball is still nagging.
Carvalho, with a strong blend of good interception and passing rates with a sprinkling of goal scoring abilities, is the kind of player who would be very important to not only winning the EPL, other domestic titles and an European success in the new 2014/2015 football season, but to begin another era of good football and total dominance in England and Europe, as seen with the Invincibles early in the millennium.
Arsene Wenger could seize the opportunity of Sporting Lisbon’s desperation to get an absolutely low bargain in the transfer fee of the player and land the player in January.
William Carvalho gotten for a fee lower than the £28m requested by Sporting Lisbon would be a steal because he would bring a lot of stability to the Arsenal midfield by protecting well the back four and giving the right confidence to the forward thinking midfielders.
He has been seriously compared to Patrick Vieira who dominated the English Premier League’s midfield battles alongside Gilberto Silva in the Invincibles era.
