Mikel Arteta has admitted that Joe Willock's future will be resolved shortly with the Arsenal midfielder set to complete a permanent transfer to Newcastle, football.london understands.
The final fee is expected to reach £25million inclusive of add-ons, while football.london has learned that a sell-on clause will also be inserted into the deal.
Willock was absent from the Arsenal squad which faced Tottenham in their final pre-season friendly ahead of the new Premier League season on Sunday afternoon.
Gunners manager Mikel Arteta said after the game that he would explain the reasoning for Willock's absence in due course, although it's understood a breakthrough in talks within prompted the Spaniard to leave the England midfielder out of the squad.
Hale End graduate Willock took several days to agree personal terms with the Magpies, but it's now expected that he'll travel up to Tyneside to complete the permanent move.
"The situation is that he’s our player and we’ve held some conversations because it’s not only about what we want to do, it’s the player’s interest and the role that a player can field in a squad and in a club," said Arteta.
"What he’s done is put himself in a really strong position where he can choose a little bit with more options of what his future could look like, and this is what we’re trying to define right now.
When asked whether Willock will still be at Emirates Stadium in September, Arteta said:
"I don’t know. In football I’m not going to do that because if not, you will come with the quote that you said at the end of last season, so I would prefer not to answer to that."
Meanwhile, the Gunners are looking to make more signings before transfer deadline day on August 31.
A creative midfielder will be next on the list following the arrival of a goalkeeper, with both James Maddison and Martin Odegaard among the names Arsenal are interested in.
"We are talking about probably the most difficult transfer market in this industry over the last years for sure and we are trying to adapt," said Arteta on Friday.
"The club, the owners and myself, we all have the same interests, which is to make this team much stronger and we know that we still have things to do to get what we want."
Hector Bellerin's future remains uncertain with Arsenal yet to offer the Spaniard a new contract, while the likes of Lucas Torreira and Sead Kolasinac could leave before the window closes.
