Chelsea To Blow Arsenal Out The Water With €44m Midfielder Bid

The summer transfer window is now reaching its climax and managers are working hard to make some last minute additions to their squad, so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, Chelsea are set to table a mammoth bid for Arsenal target William Carvalho.

Chelsea are set to blow Arsenal out the water with a mammoth €44m (£35m) bid for Sporting Lisbon midfielder William Carvalho, according to reports in Portugal.

Carvalho has emerged as one of the most highly rated young midfielders in Europe after an excellent season with Sporting and his impressive displays earned him a place in Portugal’s squad for the World Cup finals in Brazil this summer.

The 22-year-old’s form has also attracted interest from the Premier League with Arsenal strongly linked with a move in recent weeks, and reports earlier this month even suggested the Gunners had seen an opening €30m (£24m) offer turned down by Sporting with the Portuguese club holding out for the full value of the midfielders €46m (£37m) buy-out clause.

However, while Sporting are determined not to let Carvalho leave on the cheap, it’s believed they are keen to cash-in on their star man to help ease their financial concerns and to fund other deals, and it appears Chelsea are now ready to test their resolve with a far more tempting offer.

Despite Jose Mourinho hinting his transfer business is finished for the summer, Portuguese newspaper Abola claim today that the Blues are set to crush Arsenal’s hopes of signing Carvalho by tabling a huge €44m (£35m) bid for the powerful midfielder.

That offer falls just short of the players buy-out fee but it’s likely to prove too tempting for Sporting to turn down, so if these reports turn out to be true, Chelsea could be closing in on another major signing this summer.

The news will come as a major blow to Arsenal as Arsene Wenger is keen to bring in a dominant midfielder to compliment the creative talents of Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere, and Carvalho would have been an excellent addition to the North Londoners squad.

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news | Chelsea transfer news

However, as it stands, the Gunners have yet to up their initial £24m bid and Chelsea look set to put themselves firmly in the driving seat by trumping their rivals with a huge offer of their own. It remains to be seen whether Arsenal would match such a bid, but I’d be surprised if Wenger was prepared to spend that kind of money on a relatively unproven young talent, so he may have to look elsewhere if he wants to add another midfielder to his squad before the window shuts.