Auba deal close, say Gunners
MIKEL ARTETA has confirmed that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is on the brink of signing a new three-year contract.
The striker has agreed terms on a deal worth £250,000-a-week ahead of the new season.
Arsenal are also homing in on sealing a £27million move for Lille defender Gabriel and expect to announce both deals in the coming days.
Arteta said: “I keep being positive, we have some really good talks with him and his agent. I am pretty confident we’re going to find an agreement soon. That’s my feeling again.
“Absolutely, and for him as well. I think he should be
very happy if he is able to stay at the club for a long time.
“People will be delighted with that news.”
Gabriel, below, has already travelled to London for talks and a medical after agreeing terms on a five-year deal.
The Gunners are also pursuing Dani Ceballos for another one-year loan deal from Real Madrid but they may face competition from Real Betis.
Arteta added: “He [Gabriel] is a player that we followed for a long time and hopefully we can get it done.
“Everything is OK when both parties sign, the club and the player agree the terms and he goes through the medical. Sometimes the last final stages is not as easy as it looks, but again we are pretty positive that we can do it.
“We have had some talks [on Ceballos].
“Dani knows what I think about him – he was pretty clear with me as well that his intention was to remain with us.
“But Real Madrid are involved and we don’t know yet what they want to do with the player.
“He is a player we are interested in because we really saw in the last months of the season what he is capable of bringing to us.”