Arsenal close to signing defender, striker

Wenger has already signed young Japan striker Takuma Asano this summer, but he confirmed the 21-year-old was now expected to be loaned out having been denied a work permit.

Perez, 27, was reportedly close to joining Everton before Arsenal stepped in, but Wenger insists he was not reacting to the fans’ lust for spending money. And yet his hunt has so failed to bear fruit.

But boss Arsene Wenger has had a change of heart with time running out to strengthen his squad ahead of Wednesday’s transfer deadline.

We finally got a deal agreed for the German worldwide yesterday and BBC journalist David Ornstein has taken to Twitter to say that Mustafi will undergo his medical in London today before signing a five-year contract.

Everton are still hopeful of a deal but reports in Spain suggest Arsenal are strong favourites to sign the player. He was Valencia’s captain.

“Mustafi is not for sale and he will stay at Valencia”, he said.

At £35 million, Mustafi would be more than twice as expensive as any other defender Wenger has bought in his 20-year tenure.

“I spend £300m if I find the player and if I have the £300m”, Wenger said. They still need to sell one or two players, but they would rather part with the likes of Aderlan Santos or Lucas Orban, sales which they believe would bring the club in line with the regulations.

That attitude is also set to preclude a transfer for West Brom’s Jonny Evans.

Arsenal’s search for a striker could end if the club accept Deportivo’s demand of paying the transfer fee in a single installment while a failure to accept their demand likely to cause the negotiations to break down.

“Valencia have had difficulties with Financial Fair Play, but that has improved recently”.

The Spanish side are now looking for a replacement for Mustafi.

The dramatic manner of the transfers and the players involved, not to mention the combined fee, smack of the last-minute scrambling typically associated with Wenger at this time of the year.

But Balague has rubbished those claims, saying it was simply a matter of Arsenal missing out on top target Alexandre Lacazette. “So you have to restart, and when you restart, when you [deal] with some leagues they’re on holiday”. After all, the France worldwide was once widely tipped to leave Lyon and join Wenger’s ranks.