A report from Abola in Portugal claims that Arsenal will be facing stiff competition in the race to sign highly-rated Sporting Lisbon midfielder William Carvalho.

It’s thought that Arsenal and other interested clubs will have to trigger Carvalho’s buyout clause which is around £38million if they are willing to sign him during the winter transfer window coming up in January.

The news outlet claims that the Portuguese club are willing to let Carvalho depart from the club next month but a low bid won’t be accepted as Lisbon are not willing to let him go for less than £38million, Sporting Lisbon are currently fourth in the league behind Braga who are third.

Arsene Wenger has long been an admirer of Carvalho, though where he now stands on the signature since the arrival of Elneny and Xhaka is anyone’s guess.

A separate report from Sport Witness via Team Talk claim that Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City all scouted the ace in Lisbon’s game on Thursday against Belenenses but no one knows which club will lead the race to his signature.