Arsenal monitoring Sporting midfielder William Carvalho

Arsenal has dispatched chief scout Steve Rowley to check up on Portuguese international defensive midfielder William Carvalho. The 21-year-old has been compared to club legend Patrick Vieira.

According to reports from Portugal, the Gunners have already sent their Iberian scout Francis Cagigao to Lisbon to check out Carvalho back in November and December, and the scout sent a glowing report back to Arsenal's scouting team.


The player has a massive 29 million Euro release clause in his contract, but with Lisbon currently eager to generate funds, the player could be allowed to leave for around half of that.


The Sporting Lisbon starlet spent last season on loan in Belgium at Cercle Brugge, but has since returned to his parent club and has now forced his way into the Portuguese side's first team.