Sporting CP president offers West Ham hope of signing William Carvalho despite 'Dildo Brothers' row

Sporting CP president Bruno de Carvalho says he is ready to leave the "soap opera" with West Ham United in the past following the bitter feud between the two clubs over the transfer of William Carvalho.

West Ham attempted to sign 25-year-old midfielder Carvalho during the summer transfer window only for the saga to end in vicious fashion filled with personal attacks and threats of legal action from both sides.

The row only erupted once the transfer window had closed when co-owner David Sullivan claimed an agreement had been struck for the Portugal international, only for the deal to fall through as there was not enough time to carry out "adequate medical checks" ahead of the transfer deadline.

Sporting strenuously denied that West Ham had ever made a bid for the Portugal midfielder, however, with one club official describing Hammers co-owner David Sullivan as a "parasite" and a "liar."

The row deepened when club president De Carvalho entered the fray, infamously labelling Sullivan and West Ham's other co-owner David Gold "the Dildo Brothers" - a jibe linked to the pair's shady business past - before calling for Hammers fans to demand the truth over the club's transfer failure.

Leicester City were another Premier League side who failed to sign a Sporting player during the summer – in less hostile but still remarkable circumstances. The Foxes had struck a deal to bring Adrien Silva to the King Power Stadium for £22m fee only for Fifa to block their attempts to register the player because the paperwork for the deal arrived with The FA 14 seconds after the deadline.

De Carvalho is no stranger to overseeing negotiations with English clubs, with Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool among the sides he has sat down with during his tenure at the Estádio José Alvalade over deals for Marcos Rojo, Eric Dier and Tiago Ilori respectively.

And speaking to IBTimes UK, the Sporting president insists recent experiences have not affected his opinion of how clubs from these shores conduct themselves in the transfer window and remains happy to do business with them if they are ready to pay up.

"I do not have a bad impression (of dealing with English clubs)," Carvalho said, pointing to the club's recent negotiations with Leicester which saw Islam Slimani join the Foxes for a club record fee in 2016. "We made deals like with Slimani, like with Adrien Silva, it was a pity that delay of 14 seconds, it was an unfortunate thing. I have never had any kind of questions with the clubs that have done business with us, they are always very direct. I think it is a way of working that I like. Okay, when we negotiate, we are tough. But side by side in the end, we finish as gentlemen."

"There was this soap regarding West Ham, but it is not interesting, it is not important because there was nothing. English clubs do conduct themselves in a good way; they are not perfect but there is no perfection in the world. But it is good to work with them."

A string of failures in the transfer market contributed to West Ham's dismal start to the 2017-18 season, culminating in the dismissal of Slaven Bilic in November with David Moyes appointed the man to attempt to lead them out of the mire.

The former United manager is set to be given funds to try and do just that when the transfer window reopens in January, with reports claiming the West Ham board still want to bring Sporting midfielder Carvalho to the club.

De Carvalho meanwhile hints that the West Ham hierarchy are still withholding the truth over what really happened during their summer negotiations. But if the Premier League side are ready to move on, the Sporting chief has opened the door to more talks in the New Year.

"If we close this soap that is not interesting," De Carvalho said when asked if he would be open to doing business with West Ham again. "It is not good for anybody because the fans deserve better, the truth, our respect. The fans are the most important thing at the club. So if we finish what was a strange soap, let's see. But I don't know if they will finish, because it was very, very strange. But I continue with a very good impression of the English clubs."