An announcement for Arsenal's first signing of the summer transfer window might not be too far away.
In fact, it could be a race between two players to see who is first to spark the beginning of Mikel Arteta's planned overhaul of his senior squad following a disappointing 2020/21 campaign.
Ben White seems to be ahead in the race to be the first new face through the doors at the Emirates Stadium with Arsenal close to agreeing a deal worth £50m with Brighton and Hove Albion for the central defender.
However, reports coming out of Belgium would suggest that the England international could be beaten to the punch by Albert Sambi Lokonga.
Despite the Gunners seeing a £12.9m bid rejected by Anderlecht, football.london understands technical director Edu has been keen to tie up that transfer once White has gone through.
But there have been encouraging signs with regards to the Lokonga transfer.
Firstly in response to a fan on Twitter, Het Laatste Nieuws reporter Kristof Terreur said it's just a matter of time before the midfielder is an Arsenal player.
"Lokonga to Arsenal is just a matter of time," he said and revealed that Anderlecht are working on signing a replacement.
And now HLN, as per Sport Witness have reported that Lokonga is no longer expected at Neerpede, Anderlecht’s training base which means he wouldn’t be starting preseason with them.
Furthermore, the report states that Lokonga is described as being 'closer' to Arsenal, and there’s an assumption a 'definitive breakthrough' will soon be made in talks between the two clubs.
With that said, the Gunners know how much it will cost to sign Lokonga.
It's understood that just over £4million more on their opening bid (£17.2m) will be enough to reach an agreement with Anderlecht and move Arsenal closer to sealing their first deal of the summer window
