by Lewis Ambrose

Arsenal may have been handed a blow in the transfer market by Sporting Lisbon manager Jorge Jesus, who is insisting that William Carvalho won’t be sold.

The big central midfielder won player of the tournament at the recent UEFA u21 European Championships, playing every game in the middle of the park for eventual runners-up Portugal.

Arsenal have been heavily linked with the player for a year now, but he is still a Sporting Lisbon player. Speaking about the future of the midfielder, new Sporting Lisbon manager Jorge Jesus insisted that the player will be staying at the club.

“William is a certainty (to stay),” the new manager told Portuguese television network SIC.

“Sporting have young players who are already certainties, not hopes or doubts. If the team is improved, William will also improve.”

I’ve basically translated the quotes myself because Daily Express did a pretty shoddy job of just throwing them through a translator and then not putting them in actual English. They may not be perfect but at least they read well now.

“Players of high value to the team respond to winning titles. He’s a player with features to play higher. I have no doubt that with me will play higher.”

Carvalho can’t be forced to stay, as he has a release clause of around £30M, but it is unlikely that Arsenal would be willing to pay that much for him. If we were, he would probably be an Arsenal player already.