Arsenal transfer target Houssem Aouar has agreed to join the Gunners, according to reports in his native France.
The Lyon midfielder has been one of Mikel Arteta's top targets all summer, but there have been suggestions that the Gunners could be beaten to his signature by a club who could offer Champions League football this season.
The 22-year-old impressed as the Ligue 1 side knocked Juventus and Manchester City out of Europe's elite competition last season, and he was said to be reluctant to drop out of the top tier of European football even if it was just for one campaign.
Juve and Barcelona were said to be two clubs that Aouar had hoped to join, but now Telefoot say that he has given up on moving to either Turin or Catalonia after no concrete offers for him emerged.
They add that he will instead look to complete a switch to north London this summer, with Arteta desperate for him to join.
Gunners technical director Edu is now set to hold talks with Lyon to finalise the deal.
Aouar has been linked with Arsenal all summer along with the Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey, and former Gunners defender Nigel Winterburn says that if it was up to him, he'd sign the Ghanaian instead.
“Mikel Arteta is not totally happy with the midfield that he currently has and looks like he wants to change it up," Winterburn told FreeSuperTips.
“As always with Arsenal it takes a long time to get things done. We're just going to have to again wait and see, but I don’t believe that Arsenal have the money to bring them both in.
“Also, when discussing ideal signings, we forget to consider whether those players want to join Arsenal, and that's the most important thing. So, we’ve got to wait and see, but my preference of the two would be Thomas Partey.”
