Arsenal are in talks to sign Poland international defender Jakub Kiwior in a move worth in excess of £21million.
The Gunners have won the race for the highly-rated 22-year-old Spezia centre-back, who'd been linked with Serie A giants such as Juventus, AC Milan and Napoli, alongside German duo Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig. Arsenal are expected to complete his arrival over the weekend when Kiwior flies to London.
Upon his move to the Emirates, which Mirror Football understands is close, the left-footed rising star will sign a five-year contract as Mikel Arteta beefs up the Premier League leaders' squad, with Leandro Trossard also set to arrived, after a £27million agreement was reached with Brighton on Thursday.
Having featured for Poland at the World Cup, Kiwior is renowned for his ability on the ball and composure in all aspects of his defending. Following a breakout season with Spezia last term, the giants of Italian football grew interested and weighed up a move for the former Anderlecht academy star.
Highly-rated, Kiwior will provide competition for Gabriel in the Arsenal back line. Left-footed centre-back Gabriel has been a mainstay for the Gunners this term, but has lacked competition for his place, with William Saliba, Benjamin White and Rob Holding all right-footed and preferring to play on the right.
Poland captain Robert Lewandowski is a big fan of his international teammate, who impressed in Qatar late last year, and reportedly advised Barcelona to make a move ahead of the current transfer window.
"I noticed him in the warm-up before the game and wondered who he was," the striker revealed last year. "Then I saw him in the game and I realised that he is an extraordinary player. He has enormous potential."
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Arteta has made little secret of his desire to strengthen as Arsenal seek a first Premier League title since 2003.
"We need to go a step further, we need players that already know what winning feels like and are able to transmit that," the Spaniard recently explained. "The likes of Gabi (Jesus) and Oleksandr (Zinchenko) we brought that to the football club, they are still very young, they don’t have that much experience but they are hungry and have the quality to deliver us to the next level."
Having missed out on the signing of Mykhaylo Mudryk to Chelsea, Arteta added: "I am very proud to have the players we have. We always want to try to improve the squad.
"The club are the first to try and improve the players we have. We have to have some discipline and be consistent in the targets we have. We can make the players better - let's focus on that."
