West Ham and Sporting Lisbon bury hatchet over 'd---- brothers' dispute

West Ham have reconciled with Sporting Lisbon over the infamous “dildo brothers” dispute in September over whether or not there was an agreement in place for the transfer of Portugal midfielder William Carvalho to the London club.

The row reached its zenith when the Sporting president Bruno de Carvalho called West Ham’s joint-chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold, “the dildo brothers”. The Portuguese club were enraged that West Ham had claimed that Sporting had tried to revive the deal at the end of the summer window and attempted to sell Carvalho.

After threats of legal action from West Ham, and various allegations from Sporting’s side, the clubs released statement individually on their own websites to say that they had now overcome their differences. West Ham blamed a “breakdown in communication … between representatives” during talks over Carvalho.

The struggling Premier League club prompted suggestions that they may yet make another bid for the 25-year-old in the January transfer window.

Claiming that the matter was now “resolved”, West Ham said in a statement that “friendly relations between the clubs will resume and there will be no barriers to both clubs negotiating or working together in the future.”

It is understood that hostile historical tweets have also been deleted in line with this new rapprochement. Previously, Sullivan’s son David junior had claimed that West Ham were to sue the Sporting communications director Nuno Saraiva, although in which jurisdiction it was not clear.

Sporting are second in the Primeira Liga and unbeaten his season, only trailing leaders Porto by goal difference. Carvalho has been a key figure for club and country and was originally rated at around £25 million by West Ham in the summer.