http://sportwitness.ning.com/forum/topics/full-story-on-arsenal-s-carvalho-bid-30m-could-actually-be-accept
Full story on Arsenal's Carvalho bid, €30m could actually be accepted
Sporting Lisbon wanted William Carvalho to be one of the stars of the World Cup in Brazil and for that to lead to a queue of clubs ready to pay his buyout clause of €45m. That didn't happen, Carvalho wasn't a stand-out star in a poor Portuguese team, the lofty €45m was looking a more inflated figure than ever.
Stories about the player's future went very quiet indeed. At one stage before the World Cup the Portuguese press, and O Jogo specifically, would have had their readers believe that Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Juventus, PSG, Monaco, Real Madrid and Barcelona were all fighting for the player's signature.
That clearly isn't the case. However, Carvalho's past season was so good that there will certainly be interest. The Sporting Lisbon player was the best in Portugal last season despite being just 22 years old, his rise to glory following a loan season in the Belgian wilderness was truly remarkable and unexpected.
O Jogo say that Arsenal have officially and directly made a €30m bid for William Carvalho. That offer was sent to the offices of Sporting Lisbon. The amount of €30m isn't something which made Sporting close the door to a deal.
The Portuguese newspaper explain, in the full version of their article which isn't on their website, that Sporting were happy to open negotiations with Arsenal at €30m. They make it sound like a deal could be done for around that figure and that Sporting have stopped clinging to the buyout clause of €45m so much.
The Problem was Arsenal's wish to pay the amount in two lots and that's what made Sporting say a deal wasn't happening. The Portuguese club only own 60% of Carvalho, say O Jogo, with the other 40% being owned by the Sporting Portugal Fund. Third party ownership is very common in Portugal and can sometimes make transfers difficult.
Arsenal's €30m offer works out at £23.7m, half of that upfront is £11.85m, Sporting's 60% of that would be £7.1m. It's easy to see why they want everything upfront. It's not worth it for them to sell Carvalho and only get £7.1m now with the rest coming some time in the future. The financial pressure on Sporting means that getting the rest of the money in a couple of years or so is no incentive. Carvalho could be the difference between winning the league or not, he could be the difference between a decent European campaign or not, the financials don't stack up for Sporting at £7.1m but at double that they probably would.
This story from O Jogo could be spot on, Arsenal may have made the bid, but it could alternatively be a way of reminding the world about Carvalho and subtly letting everyone know his price has dropped. Interestingly, O Jogo say the Carvalho bid came from 'his' Arsenal, referring to claims the midfielder is a fan of the club, Thierry Henry is his hero.
