Arsenal are on the verge of sealing a deal for Man City striker Gabriel Jesus
The Gunners have been linked with the out-of-favour Brazilian for much of the summer so far – with Erling Haaland’s arrival at the Etihad placing his future in serious doubt after six years on the blue side of Manchester.
Jesus’ availability has triggered a frenzy of interest, with Chelsea and Tottenham among the teams understood to hold an interest – as well as Real Madrid.
But it is Arsenal who look to be winning to race, with club chiefs now confident they can strike a deal for the player, as reported by the Times.
City are holding out for around £50million, the report claims, and while Arsenal have only bid around £30m so far, they are expected to push their offer closer to what City are valuating him at.
Jesus is eager to move to the Emirates and is keen to work with manager Mikel Arteta again, it continues.
The pair worked together at the Etihad when Arteta was Pep Guardiola’s assistant manager and have a good understanding.
In turn, Arteta has made Jesus one of his ‘priority’ transfer targets and is no longer concerned than the player will snub them because of their lack of Champions League football.
Arsenal are desperate to bring in some reinforcements up front after losing Alexandre Lacazette on a free transfer to Lyon, while they offloaded Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Barcelona in January.
There have also been fears Eddie Nketiah could walk out on his boyhood club – with his name being included on a list of players being released this summer.
However, there are still hopes a new contract could be agreed and the report claims Nketiah has penned a long-term deal to extend his stay in north London, where he will battle Jesus for a starting spot.
Goalscoring was a department Arsenal struggled in last season as they only managed to net 61 times en route to finishing fifth in the table – less than eighth-placed Leicester City.
Jesus has not been prolific for City but still managed to score 13 goals last season, as well as 12 assists from 28 starts in all competitions.