Actually, the figure mentioned in the Arsenal transfer rumour about the latest bid put in by Arsene Wenger for the defensive midfield transfer target William Carvalho is given as £21.3 million by Metro. But this is such an odd figure that it must equate to an amount in the currency of his current employers, Sporting Club de Portugal.
This suggests to me that the Gunners are aware, and may even have been told, of the transfer fee that the Portuguese club will accept. Sporting previously wanted quite a bit more for their young player, apparently, and may already have turned down a bid of a roughly similar amount, but the talk in the media is that they are now willing to accept less with just a few days of the transfer window left.
The report also claims that all parties want the deal to go through and that Arsenal are very confident of signing the 22-year old, although it may still not be completed until the final day of the window, on Monday. That should give us Arsenal fans the annual fun of alternating between fretting, fuming and getting over excited.
But if it is true, that is one of the three signings we need to make. Now for a striker and a centre back maybe?