Arsenal have agreed a deal to sign Lille centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes with the player reportedly set to fly to London on Monday to sign a five-year contract.
The 22-year-old has been the subject of intense speculation this summer, with the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United all linked with a move.
But it was the Gunners and Serie Aside Napoli who emerged as the frontrunners for his signature earlier this week, with the Premier League side thought to have had a bid accepted.
It is claimed that club chiefs have kept in constant contact with Lille and Magalhaes over the last couple of weeks as they stepped up efforts to sign him.
And now, according to Italian football expert Fabrizio Romano , a total agreement has now been reached between Arsenal and Lille on a £27million transfer of Magalhaes.
He tweeted on Saturday night: “Gabriel Magalhães to Arsenal, here we go! Total agreement just completed: he will fly on Monday to London to sign his contract until June 2025, €30M to Lille (add ons included), official statement on next week. The deal is finally done.”
Gabriel was left out of the side for Lille’s first match of the 2020-21 season, against Rennes on Saturday, as his departure from the club moved a step closer. He is now expected to line-up alongside William Saliba in a new-look back-line for Arsenal.
Lille president Gerard Lopez this week confirmed Magalhaes was making a decision between two clubs with Arsenal now appearing likely to get the nod.
Lopez told talkSPORT on Thursday: "That and a couple of more clubs. I think he's narrowed it down.
"I think it's fair to say that Arsenal are a high interest to him, Napoli is a high interest to him. "We've given him plenty of time to make up his mind. We've always said, 'Look, if we have an agreement with two clubs or three clubs and the agreements are the same then we are not going to create a bidding competition', and that choice, I don't think I'm giving up too much if I tell you that that choice is probably today or tomorrow.
"I'm unable to tell you what that choice is. We've given him some recommendations but we don't like to talk about it in public because we don't want people to feel bad. We've talked about where he should go, but at the end of the day he and his environment make a choice and we support that."
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has made making improvements to his defence a priority this summer and landing Magalhaes to go with Saliba would be a great start.
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