Wolves are reportedly leading the race to sign Benfica’s Joao Carvalho. Arsenal had been previously linked, but the Gunners look set to miss out on the young midfielder.

The Mirror write that the Gunners are interested in 20-year-old Joao Carvalho, who plays as an attacking-midfielder for Benfica’s B team. However, Wolves are apparently looking to consolidate their position at the top of the Championship table by adding Carvalho to their ranks.

Carvalho has had a mixed time with Benfica this season. Although he impressed enough to make the bench for the first team on a couple of occasions, he’s generally been with the B team, and those first-team call ups have disrupted his season with the second side. As a result, he’s only appeared three times this campaign.

Wolves signed Helder Costa from Benfica in January, for a club-record fee of £13m, so they have some history with the Portuguese club. They’ve also been linked with Rafa Silva in recent days, already having six Portuguese players in their current first-team squad – coupled with manager Nuno Espírito Santo being a Portuguese coach.

Arsenal don’t have that same level of connection to the Primeira Liga side, but the Gunners did sell Chris Willock to them this summer, as well as playing a match against them in the Emirates Cup. In this case, however, I think Wolves are probably more likely to be able to offer Carvalho regularly playing time.

Arsenal perhaps have too much competition in midfield, so I doubt there’s too much in the links to North London.