Arsenal are reportedly considering using a player as a makeweight in their next offer for Sporting Lisbon winger Joelson Fernandes.
The Gunners have identified the highly-rated 17-year-old as one of their priority transfer targets this summer, but financial restrictions mean that they are reluctant to meet the youngster's £41m release clause.
Arsenal are understood to have already seen one bid worth a reported £29m turned down and are now considering other ways to convince Sporting to sell the attacker without increasing their cash outlay.
The Daily Star reports that the North London outfit are mulling over whether to use one of the players deemed surplus to requirements by Mikel Arteta in a player-plus-cash arrangement.
Arteta is expected to oversee a significant restructuring of his squad this summer, and the likes of Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira and Ainsley Maitland-Niles are among the players available for transfer.
However, the likes of Juventus and Borussia Dortmund have also been credited with an interest in Fernandes, who has been dubbed 'the next Cristiano Ronaldo' since becoming Sporting's youngest ever player earlier this season.
Barney Corkhill
