The father of Joelson Fernandes has revealed that his son was indeed the subject of interest from Arsenal and a host of other top teams this summer.
While speaking to O Democrata in his home country of Guinea Bissau, he admitted that before he son signed a new deal at Sporting Lisbon, he was of interest to Arsenal who tabled the largest bid for his signature.
Eusébio Mango Fernandes, who is a businessman and also represents his son, claimed that it was tough to negotiate a new deal for his ward particularly because there was interest from other teams.
He claimed that it was his wish for the youngster to remain with Sporting, but there was interest from outside.
The report claims that offers were made by Liverpool, PSG and the Gunners, but Arsenal offered 20 million euros, which was the highest offer that the got for him.
“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 ”, said Eusébio Mango Fernandes.
The website adds that: “Fernandes made it known that he received offers of 5 million euros from PSG, 4 and a half million from Manchester City, 3 million from Liverpool, 1 million from Ajax and 20 million from Arsenal for the transfer of the athlete, but waived these offers.”
