Arsenal have failed with an opening offer for Sporting CP winger Joelson Fernandes.
A Bola says the initial €20m bid was knocked back “almost immediately" as the Portuguese side continue to hold out for a club to meet the teenager's €45m release clause, but Arsenal are expected to test Sporting's resolve.
Sporting fell well short of Champions League qualification, and will need to play two qualifying rounds to make it into the Europa League group stage.
They have already offloaded one player to the Premier League, with Matheus Pereira joining newly-promoted West Bromwich Albion after a successful loan spell.
Joelson scored five times for Sporting's under-23s in the 2019/20 season, and played just over an hour of first-team football, spread across four substitute appearances.
