Sporting’s manager, Jorge Jesus, has said that Joel Campbell was a player he wanted when he was manager of Benfica, but refused to be drawn further on the issue because the deal wasn’t complete.

It is now, however.

With Campbell travelling to Portugal for his medical on Friday, the Sporting manager told Sport TV on Saturday, “I cannot be talking about a player who is not signed and is not of Sporting. 

“When I was at another club [Benfica] he was already a player I wanted. 

“It’s a situation, I do not know if it will happen, because I had other players who did not pass the medical examination. 

“We will not speculate.”

PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP/Getty Images
PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP/Getty Images

 

Now, on Sunday, Sporting have confirmed the deal:

Followed by Arsenal:

As for Arsenal, they now look set to head into the final weeks of the transfer window with fewer strikers than they started it with.

I’m not sure they’re doing this right, but what do I know?

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