Arsenal had a €20m (£18m) offer turned down by Sporting Lisbon for winger Joelson Fernandes in the summer, according to Odemocratagb.com.

The website conducted an interview with the Portuguese wonderkid’s father, who confirmed that there were a number of teams from across Europe who were after the teenager:

“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.”

In addition to the Gunners, the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Paris Saint-German also made formal offers for Fernandes but the decision was eventually made for the player to stay at Sporting.

The 17-year-old signed a new three-year contract at the Portuguese side last month, with a release clause of €60m (£54,7m) having been included.

It is believed that the main reason Fernandes opted to remain at Sporting was due to his father’s good relationship with the club, who have helped the player develop. If he does leave Portugual in the future, it appears a team will have to match his buyout fee to get him.