Arsenal are expected to make a third bid for Celtic defender Kieran Tierney in the coming days as they move closer to the signing of Dani Ceballos.
Celtic have rejected two bids from Arsenal for their left-back, valued at £25million.
The Gunners’ most recent offer could have reached that fee but Celtic felt too much of the deal was based on add-ons. The Scottish champions want more cash up front.
Tierney is keen to join Arsenal and rival interest from Napoli cooled after it became clear the Scottish international favoured a move to the Premier League.
The left-back would likely become Arsenal’s third signing after Brazilian forward Gabriel Martinelli and a short-term deal for Ceballos.
As football.london reported after the Gunners’ 3-0 win over Fiorentina there is a growing sense of optimism that Ceballos will arrive from Real Madrid on loan.
The Spain Under-21 international returns from holiday next week when progress towards a deal is expected to intensify.
Head of football Raul Sanllebi returned from Arsenal’s tour of the USA to push through deals for Ceballos and Tierney.
"Arsenal are aware of what we value the player at," said Celtic boss Neil Lennon earlier this summer, as reported by the Daily Record .
"He’s on a long-term contract, he’s an asset and we don’t want to sell him.
"It’s going to have to take a lot more than what they’ve offered the first time around to give us a decision to make.
"I’ve had a chat with him as it can be a difficult decision and bit unsettling. I’ve been there myself so it’s important that we support him regardless of the outcome."
Speaking from Charlotte, North Carolina after Arsenal's victory over Fiorentina, Unai Emery explained the transfer strategy for the rest of the summer as William Saliba prepares for his medical.
"We want to choose the best solution," said the Gunners boss. "Some players are very expensive and we are waiting for this possibility.
"We don't want now to go to the second line of players. We are waiting. We have very good players. We have very good young players.
"We are aware also that we need to improve some players in this squad but only, only I want to sign one, two, three or four players only if we can be sure they are coming to improve our team.
"There are a lot of names. The club is working, Edu is very close to me and Raul [Sanllehi]. We speak every day. Here we spoke with the Kroenke family."
