Arsenal Transfer News: Gunners Must Go Back in for William Carvalho in January

Arsenal missed out on signing William Carvalho from Sporting Lisbon in the transfer window despite reportedly putting in a late bid for the young defensive midfielder.

Carvalho has long been linked with a move to the Emirates, and according to Ed Aarons of The Guardian, the Gunners missed out on the Portuguese international after refusing to meet Sporting's valuation:

As Aarons alludes to, Arsenal may regret not meeting the fairly reasonable €30 million (£23.8 million) request, as the Gunners are in need of a high quality, deep-lying central midfielder, and Carvalho is certainly that.

However, it seems that Arsenal will return for the 22-year-old when the transfer window re-opens in January, per The Independent:

"

The Portuguese club have now offered the 22-year-old a new contract, but he may not sign it as he is believed to prefer a move to the Premier League.

According to Tony Leen of the Irish Examiner, who is said to have links to the midfielder, Arsenal will go back in for Carvalho.

"

Leen reported that it is Sporting who are expecting Arsenal to return, and thus the eagerness to get Carvalho signed on to a new contract may well be to drive his price up:

Even so, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger would do well to try again for Carvalho in the new year as he is seemingly a perfect fit for Arsenal.

He is young and has the potential to improve, something which Wenger often looks for in his purchases, and Carvalho could be a long-term asset for Arsenal.

Furthermore, he could strengthen the Gunners' midfield as well as provide a shield to sit in front of the defence, which is often a troubled area for Arsenal, per Goal.com's Sam Lyon:

While only being 22, Carvalho has exhibited in his time at Sporting a maturity and physicality that would bolster Arsenal's midfield and allow for their wealth of attacking talent to work most effectively.

The current options in holding midfield for the Gunners are an ageing Mikel Arteta and an inconsistent Mathieu Flamini.

Carvalho would be an upgrade on both of those players and would represent the kind of midfield enforcer not seen in an Arsenal shirt since the days of Patrick Vieira.

Wenger has a supremely high-quality attacking unit with the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil to call upon.

However, that group of players cannot work to its best without a ball-winning teammate like Carvalho who can begin attacks and also provide cover in front of the defence.

Arsenal are one or two players away from being taken seriously as genuine title challengers once again. 

Most people's favourites for this year's Premier League title, Manchester City and Chelsea, have strength in defensive midfield, one of the main reasons they are being so hotly tipped, per StatsBomb's Ted Knutson:

The addition of Carvalho would solve a long-term problem for the Gunners and add much-needed balance to what is a very talented squad.

Wenger must go back in for the Portuguese international in January and stump up the cash he was not willing to part with in the summer. In the long-term, it will be worth it.