Emirates Stadium side chase tough tackler.
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Arsenal have reportedly failed with a surprise bid for young Portuguese international William Carvalho according to the Metro.
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The north London side have apparently offered €30m (£24m) for the 22 year old defensive midfielder, and offer that has been swiftly rebuked by Sporting Lisbon.
The Primeira Liga side are hoping to secure as much as €45m (£35.6m) for Carvalho but that seems a hugely inflated price for a player with relatively little top tier experience.
Carvalho can fill a number of roles, from a defensive midfield role to a holding player spot as well as being able to effectively be used as a centre-back, but the fee demanded by Sporting Lisbon is still incredibly high.
The tough tackler had an excellent season last term but that was his first full campaign with Sporting Lisbon and Arsenal have already spent big sums to land Alexis Sanchez and Mathieu Debuchy so perhaps even less likely to fork out a massive amount for Carvalho.
Arsenal could perhaps do with a strong midfield presence given that Mikel Arteta had a fairly average season last term and Mathieu Flamini appears to be more of a back-up option.
However the Gunners do perhaps feel their money would be better invested in either Real Madrid star Sami Khedira or Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin.
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