Arsenal are offering €15m for young Sporting winger Joelson Fernandes, which the Portuguese club may consider despite his €45m release clause.

Portuguese outlet TVI24 report that Arsenal offered €15m to Sporting for Joelson Fernandes. The Primeira Liga club are trying to convince Joelson to extend his contract, but if they fail, the suggestion is they’ll feel pressured to accept the bid from the Gunners.

TSF Radio report that the possibility of his renewal is getting further and further away. He only has a contract until 2022, at which point he’ll be 19. There’s probably a sense that Sporting don’t want to spend another couple of years developing a young player just to lose him for free.

Previous reports suggest Joelson has a €45m release clause. Clearly, €15m doesn’t come anywhere close to matching that, so it would be a little surprising if Sporting don’t push for more money.

The caveat to all of these updates is that Joelson’s agent is Kia Joorabchian. It’s possible he’s using his Arsenal connection to blow this story up and market his client. It’s equally possible the Portuguese media made up the story because they know Kia-Arsenal stories get clicks right now. We’ll see.