Arsenal Transfer News: Latest on William Carvalho and Calum Chambers Rumours

Arsenal have received a boost in their pursuit of Sporting Clube de Portugal midfielder William Carvalho after his contract negotiations with the club reportedly "stalled."

That's according to Portuguese outlet A Bola (h/t Metro's George Bellshaw), which noted the 23-year-old's release clause is proving a sizeable obstacle as the two parties seek to reach an agreement.

The Gunners are in need of a new holding midfielder, as their only alternatives to Francis Coquelin are Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini—both of whom are on the wrong side of 30 and liable to be exposed by Arsenal's rivals.

Carvalho is one of the most coveted players plying his trade in Portugal and seems destined to move to one of Europe's elite leagues.

Sports journalist Jonas Giaever ran the rule over the Portugal international during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil:

Carvalho subsequently put in a strong showing at the European Under-21 Championship earlier this year. Sports reporter Ian Abraham and Portuguese football expert Jan Hagen were particularly impressed with his performance against England in the tournament, in which he led his team to a 1-0 win:

The midfielder further stood out by showing his impressive distribution at the tournament, per WhoScored.com:

His comfort in possession would see him fit in well at Arsenal, and his imposing 6'2" frame would help add some much-needed steel to the spine of the team—the lack of which saw Santi Cazorla seriously overrun in the recent north London derby.

The Gunners will need to hope contract negotiations aren't able to advance further, though, as a resolution would presumably see a new deal signed and their chances of landing him in the near future seriously dented.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

Already at the Emirates Stadium is Calum Chambers, and the youngster is content with his role at the club despite being denied a loan move by manager Arsene Wenger and struggling for minutes this season, according to the Mail on Sunday's Dominic King.

Per King, Chambers is happy to remain at the Emirates as he retrains a centre-back having begun his career as a right-back. He said:

"

I feel I have learned so much over the last two years and I am happy. I don't think it happened too quickly. It just happened very quickly. It was a whirlwind start but I took it game by game and I enjoyed it. At the moment, I have changed position to centre-back. I'm not getting so much game time but I am still working in training and trying to fight for my place.

I'm not down or anything. When you are not in the team, you have to prepare for games as if you are in. You have to do everything the same. 

"

The 20-year-old has made just six appearances for Arsenal this season, featuring for a grand total of 324 minutes, according to King—an average of just 54 minutes per outing.

Changing position—even just moving one position infield—takes time, and the likes of Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista are all ahead of him in the pecking order.

That said, Wenger may have been better off using Chambers as a right-back at times this season, as Mathieu Debuchy—in for the injured Hector Bellerin—looks rusty having been absent for long periods through injury problems of his own.

Nevertheless, Chambers' attitude is admirable and clearly bears no hard feelings toward Wenger over his denied loan move, which would have likely seen him get more game time.

Indeed, his dedication to working hard in training will serve him well throughout his career and could well see him reach his considerable potential.