Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that the announcement of Omar Rekik's arrival at the club is imminent.
Rekik was spotted training with the Gunners' Under-23s side on Wednesday as the finishing touches were put to his transfer from Hertha Berlin.
Netherlands-born Rekik, a senior Tunisian international who has previously played at youth level for the likes of Feyenoord, Manchester City, PSV and Marseille, has been assured by Arsenal academy manager Per Mertesacker that he will get to train regularly with the first team when he joins.
Rekik, a left sided centre back who has been playing on the left and in defensive midfield, has received offers from clubs across Europe, with his brother Karim - who plays in the same position - leaving Hertha to join Spanish giants Sevilla on a five-year contract last month.
The signing follows a long list of players Arsenal have added to their Under-23's set-up over the past few months.
"We will announce it when we possibly can. He's a young talent we've been following for a while that we believe has a bright future," said Arteta.
When asked if the transfer will be confirmed soon Arteta laughed and responded by saying "I don't know, very soon".
An aggressive recruitment approach spearheaded by academy chief Per Mertesacker has seen no fewer than six new additions to the set up.
Among the names to arrive are Nikolaj Moller (Malmo), Jonathan Dinzeyi (Tottenham), Tim Akinola (Huddersfield), George Lewis (Fram Larvik), Joel Ideho (Ajax U18) and Catalin Cirjan who have all been signed by Mertesacker over the past year in a bid to bolster a depleted squad.
An Arsenal academy source told football.london that Mertesacker is looking to 'fill the missing gaps' in the Under-23's squad with Ben Knapper, the Loans Manager, tasked with creating a 'programme of transition' for each player in the system.
Rekik's arrival will see him compete with the likes of Dinzeyi, Harry Clarke and Dan Ballard for a place in the Under-23s defence.
