Player’s father claims Liverpool and Arsenal made transfer offers for him this summer | OneFootball

The father of Sporting Lisbon wonderkid Joelson Fernandes has claimed that Liverpool and Arsenal were among the top clubs to make offers for his son this summer.

Joelson looks a huge prospect after an eye-catching start to his career so far, and it’s little surprise to see so many big names being linked with him.

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Speaking to O Democrata, the teenager’s father detailed just how much interest there was in his son over the summer, though he isn’t directly quoted as naming any clubs, with only the text of the report mentioning the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal, along with others.

He said: “It had to be a thoughtful decision, because my wish as a father and agent, on the day that Joelson Fernandes leaves Sporting, is to be friendly and through the big door, but not through the back door.

“It was an extremely difficult and very complicated process, because there were tough moments in the negotiations for Joelson Fernandes to stay at Sporting.

“My wish was always for him to stay at the club, but due to his quality as a footballer, he had calls from several European clubs.

“Despite these very tempting offers, as an agent, I ended up dispensing with these invitations, despite knowing that I needed those millionaire offers, but I thought that in life money isn’t everything, because we must be aware that there’s a word called ‘gratitude’, for that, we are grateful to Sporting for what they gave.”

Liverpool could perhaps do with revisiting this deal in the future as they will at some point need long-term replacements for their current attackers, even if they remain perhaps the best front three in the world at the moment.

Arsenal, meanwhile, could probably also do with making some changes up front after a lack of real impact made by recent signings Nicolas Pepe and Willian in that area of the pitch.