Arsenal lead Barça & Juve in race for Sporting's Joelson Fernandes
The teenage forward is attracting interest from across Europe
Arsenal lead the chase for one of the young forwards that has been tracked by FC Barcelona. The player in question is Joelson Fernandes, a 17-year-old who plays for Sporting Lisbon and has recently broken into the first team.
According to reports in Portugal and England, Arsenal are ready to pay the 45 million euro release clause that features in Fernandes' current deal.
Sporting, meanwhile, have been trying to tie the teenager down to a new deal until 2025 and increase his release clause to 90 million euros.
Barça have been following the Portuguese market closely, as demonstrated by the January signing for Francisco Trincao from Sporting Braga, who will move to Camp Nou in the summer.
Fernandes is another of the young players emerging in Portugal that the Catalan club have been closely monitoring.
However, Arsenal hope that the close relationship they have with the player's agent -- Kia Joorabchian, who also represents Philippe Coutinho -- will help them land the signing.
Juventus have also shown an interest in Fernandes but Arsenal lead the way at the moment.
