The race to sign Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Ruben Neves has welcomed a new interest participant as Sporting Lisbon have now emerged as one of the leading candidates to land the player’s signature. The Portuguese player is a long-term transfer target for English Premier League club Arsenal, but they have not been able to establish an agreement with Wolves for the transfer of the player. The Gunners were said to have started negotiations for the player some weeks ago and were also touted as the sole candidates to sign him, but after failing to agree a fee with Wolves, Sporting seem like they want to hijack the deal.

The Portuguese outfit are well-known and popular for their ability to spot talented players and sign them up till they become even better stars till when they can command larger transfer fees in the future. Typical examples are the cases of Bruno Fernandes who joined Manchester United in January next year, and Pedro Goncalves, the man that was signed to replace him. Goncalves was Sporting’s best player last season as he finished the campaign as the league’s top scorer, firing them to their first league title in a long time.

The club now want to sign Neves as they look to build a team to defend their league title next season. Arsenal are said to be the club that need the player more and have been urged to pay up the transfer fee Wolves are demanding so they can sign the player. However, while the player’s personal terms will not be a problem for the Gunners, they could still be reluctant to pay up his transfer fee.

Arsenal have until the next few days to decide whether or not they want to sign the player before Wolves start their pre-season preparations unless the player will either stay at the Molineux or be sold to a higher bidder.