Unai Emery has confirmed the club is closing in on a loan deal for Dani Ceballos.
Arsenal are confident of completing a loan move for the Real Madrid midfielder in the next 48 hours with the Spain under-21 star set to fly to London to complete a move.
Gunners boss Emery has admitted he has been tracking Ceballos - who won the Euro under-21s tournament with Spain last month - has been a long term target.
It is a major coup for Arsenal who beat competition from Tottenham and also they have done a loan because they have such a limited budget.
Emery, whose side play Real Madrid on Tuesday in a friendly in Washington, said: “We were speaking about the possibility to sign one player for line. We had different names. The club was working on that.
"Ceballos is a very good player. I know him from Betis at the beginning and Real Madrid.
"He played very well in the Under-21s, his national team won the competition. He is one eight and 10 player.”
Tottenham had also been in the running for the 22-year-old Spanish midfielder as Mauricio Pochettino is a big admirer.
It also comes after Arsenal beat Tottenham to the signing of St Etienne’s teenage defender William Saliba as the 18-year-old centre half is due to undergo a medical and join in a £27m deal.
Arsenal have agreed to loan Saliba back to St Etienne for a season just to get the deal done and the France under-20s starlet is regarded as one of the best defensive prospects in Europe.
Arsenal’s head of football Raul Sanllehi has flown back to London from the club’s US tour as the club step up their attempts to get transfers deals completed with the clock ticking down.
They are also in the market for Celtic’s Kieran Tierney but Arsenal only have a £45m budget this summer and that deal has stalled.
Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha is keen to move to Arsenal but that deal looks increasingly unlikely as they are miles apart on the valuation.
