Arsenal have made contact with Sporting over striker Tiago Tomas.
The Gunners have been credited with an interest in the 18-year-old for some time, and according to Record (via Sport Witness), initial contact has been made with a view to bringing the player to north London this summer.
The Lisbon-based club were crowned Portuguese champions recently and it seems their success may have hardened their stance with regards to selling, because their response indicated they won't be bullied into selling on the cheap.
The report claims the Premier League outfit were told that in order to be successful in their pursuit of Tomas they are going to need to trigger the player's €60m release clause.
Last season, Tomas made 37 appearances for the first-team, contributing six goals and three assists.
Sporting are extremely confident the player will continue to develop at pace and as a result they'll be able to demand a large fee for him in the not too distant future.
Previous reports have claimed Arsenal's technical director Edu is the driving force behind the club's pursuit of Tomas, and he's hoping the impact of the global pandemic means he can tempt Sporting into accepting a lower fee than the quoted release clause.
The player's best position is at centre-forward but he has been known to operate in various other positions across the front line if required. He also boasts European experience, having netted twice for the Lions in Europa League fixtures versus Aberdeen and LASK last season.
Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah could potentially be on the move this summer and with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang due to turn 32 in June, Arsenal are right to be looking at a long-term solution for the centre-forward position.
Source : 90min