Arsenal reportedly had scouts in place to watch Vålerenga centreback, Felipe Carvalho, as his side drew 2-2 with Bodo/Glimt on Saturday and the player is naturally delighted.

The 24-year-old centre-back moved to Vålerenga in Oslo from Malmo during the January transfer window, after a loan spell with Falkenbergs.

Arsenal reportedly sent scouts to watch him at the weekend according to Norwegian outlet, Eurosport.no.

If you think this all sounds like a quite unlikely transfer then you are not alone. Vålerenga’s coach, Ronny Delia, the former Celtic manager, couldn’t have been more dismissive of the player being linked with Arsenal.

“When did any player from Vålerenga go to Arsenal last?” he said. “To me, this is just stupid. Arsenal see players all the time and they may look at a player 30 times before making a decision.”

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Carvalho, however, is incredibly excited about the whole thing.

“It is fantastic,” he said. “I will continue to do what I do and continue to work at a high level. I’m looking forward to getting in better shape, better technically and better defensively.”

Carvalho, who hails from Rivera in Uruguay, is a ball-playing defender who loves to tackle. The problem, however, seems to be that his passing isn’t that great and he was unable to secure a starting spot with Malmo, hence the move to Vålerenga.

Carvalho has scored three goals in 15 games for Vålerenga, with two of them coming in just four cup games.

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He is under contract until the end of December and his current market value is said to be £113k.