William Carvalho deal could be resurrected in January
West Ham became the laughing stock of the Premier League towards the end of the summer transfer window courtesy of the debacle surrounding the proposed transfer of Sporting Lisbon midfielder William Carvalho.
The Portugal international was said to have had a £38m release clause in his contract with the Liga NOS side but following a fiery back and forth between club officials, West Ham leaked emails proving that they did indeed make an offer for the midfielder, albeit woefully short of their valuation.
Bickering continued for several weeks after the window closed but it didn’t change the fact that West Ham missed out on their top target.
David Moyes was reportedly keen on signing Carvalho during his tenure at Manchester United and the Guardian note that the midfielder is back on his wishlist of January arrivals after being trusted with making personnel decisions when the transfer window opens despite only assured of a job until the end of the season.
The new manager has identified midfield as an area he will look to address in January and he’s said to have made Bournemouth’s Harry Arter a top transfer target, along with Carvalho and Sunderland’s Lamine Kone.