William Carvalho
Arsenal have revived their interest in signing Sporting Lisbon star William Carvalho and are willing to let Joel Campbell move the other way Getty Images

Arsenal have reportedly revived their interest in Sporting Lisbon midfielder William Carvalho and are looking at making him the club's first summer signing.

According to the Mirror, the Gunners, who have been on the midfielder's trail for more than a year, are willing to let Joel Campbell move in the other direction as part of the deal.

Arsene Wenger has always been a big admirer of the Portuguese midfielder and was keen to sign him last summer, but the Frenchman was put off by Sporting's hefty valuation of the player and was unwilling to pay £35m to bring the player to the Emirates Stadium.

However, the report claims that the Portuguese club have changed their stance this time around and are willing to do business with the north London club and have even dropped their asking price to around the £21.5m mark.

This has caught the attention of the Gunners, who are keen to add more steel to their midfield ahead of next season as they hope to challenge Chelsea for the Premier League title.

Campbell, who struggled to nail down a regular place in the starting lineup during the first half of the current campaign, was sent out on loan to Villarreal in January.

It is claimed that Sporting have now shown interest in signing the Costa Rican international, and it is believed that despite him having signed a contract before his departure to Spain, Wenger is willing to let him leave as part of a player-plus-cash deal at the end of the current campaign.

Apart from the Portuguese international, Arsenal are also keeping tabs on Southampton's Morgan Schneiderlin, who has admitted that he wants to leave the Saints in search of Champions League football and Everton's James McCarthy, who has been outstanding for the Toffees this season.