Arsenal set to snap up next Busquets from Spanish giants Barcelona

The 20-year-old defensive midfielder is one of the latest talents to emerge from Barca’s infamous La Masia academy.

According to a report from Mundo Deportivo, the Arsenal manager is keen on signing Sergi Samper, and is willing to buyout his contract for a €12 million fee and lure him out of Camp Nou for a move to the Premier League.

Barca boss Jose Enrique is desperate to keep Samper, but the Spanish youth worldwide is ready to consider a move.

Samper has racked up 74 appearances for Barcelona B, however, and it is understood that he now wants to step into the first-team picture.

Wenger had planned to spend big this summer on a holding midfielder but the emergence last season of Francis Coquelin means he can buy potential rather than the finished article.

According to Spanish daily El Mundo Deportivo, the Frenchman is ready to trigger the €12m release clause in his contract to take him to the Emirates this summer. Arsene Wenger has followed his progress at Barcelona since he was a teenager. Cesc Fabregas and Hector Bellerin are the two most successful players to have been signed but other promising youngsters such as Jon Toral also look as if they can go on to become top players in their own right. However the youngster is yet to make his La Liga debut and it seems unlikely he will get a regular place in the first team starting line-up anytime soon.

But if Wenger pays the asking price, Samper could decide a permanent move away from the Nou Camp is what best suits his career.