Having lost Flamini to Milan and (most probably) Hleb to Barcelona, it leaves the midfield at The Emirates Stadium rather light. Therefore, Arsene Wenger has seen fit to move for a Portugese star, one who has been tracked by Manchester United, Juventus and AC Milan.
Sporting Lisbon midfielder maestro Miguel Veloso has been tracked by a number of top European clubs, a collection of which now includes Arsenal, according to the players agent Paulo Barbosa.
Barbosa claims that Arsenal are making moves to sign the player, but whether a fee is agreed with Sporting or they trigger his release clause (€30million) remains to be seen:
It is not secret to anyone that he wants to play abroad.
We did not have normal contact from the Arsenal board, but from a member of the technical staff at the club.
At the moment there is not a formal offer yet, but it is possible that will happen soon as Juventus and AC Milan have shown an equal interest in the player.
The fee is likely to be rather inflated due to the 22-year-old’s newly signed contract that runs until 2013, a fact that will please his agent. However, Sporting have a tradition of allowing important youngsters to move on with Hugo Viana, Christiano Ronaldo and Nani all leaving when interest from English parties arose.