Deadline Day: Sporting Lisbon Rejected Late Bids from Arsenal and Manchester United for William Carvalho

Manchester United and Arsenal reportedly had deadline day bids rejected by Sporting Lisbon for William Carvalho.

According to the Express, the Premier League giants were keen on signing the midfielder and made bids late into the final day of the transfer window.

The Gunners had been linked with the midfielder throughout the summer transfer window and reports also suggested that they had a fresh bid turned down by the Portuguese club.

Arsene Wenger was keen on bringing him to the Emirates, as he searches for a long-term replacement for current holding midfielder and Arsenal skipper Mikel Arteta, who is on the final year of his contract.

On the other hand, United turned their attention on the defensive midfielder following their failure in landing primary target Arturo Vidal from Juventus. It is believed that the Red Devils had scouts at Sporting's game against Benfica at the weekend to run the rule over the player.

The 22-year-old midfielder has a £37m release-clause in his contract that expires next year, but Sporting were willing to sell the player for a fee much lower than that.

But Sporting rejected late bids for Carvalho from both the clubs as they were not keen on letting one of their key players leave so late in the transfer window, with no time to find a replacement.

The Portuguese club are said to be tough negotiators and United have already experienced that this summer after they signed Marcos Rojo from Sporting.

Meanwhile, even the player was ready to remain at Sporting for another season and admitted that he is not looking at leaving the club on the final day of the summer transfer window.