Arsenal have reached an agreement with Newcastle United over a €90 million (£77m) transfer fee for Bruno Guimaraes, according to reports in France.
The Premier League champions have already seen bids of £55m and £70m rejected for the Brazil international rejected by Newcastle.
Guimaraes has informed Newcastle that he wants to join Arsenal this summer and has already agreed personal terms with Mikel Arteta’s side.
According to L’Equipe, Arsenal have now agreed an initial €90m (£77m) transfer fee with Newcastle and the two clubs are negotiating bonuses and agent fees.
Get personalised football updates every day
Sign up to our daily football newsletter and choose your team to get the latest news, rumours and more direct to your inbox every morning.
The report adds that a complete agreement between Newcastle and Arsenal is expected ‘in the coming days’.
Guimaraes’ former club Lyon are also set to receive a fee in excess of €8m (£6.8m) due to the 20 per cent sell-on clause they had in their agreement with Newcastle.
Meanwhile, talkSPORT reported on Friday that Guimaraes has asked Newcastle to delay his travel to La Manga for a pre-season training camp, which suggests his move to Arsenal could be finalised over the weekend.
Guimaraes was expected to return to training with Newcastle on Monday following his appearances for Brazil at the World Cup this summer.
The 28-year-old is keen to leave Newcastle in order to continue playing in the Champions League.
Newcastle finished 12th in the Premier League last season and will not be playing in Europe for the upcoming campaign.
Guimaraes’ desire to move clubs is also likely to be strengthened following Eddie Howe’s departure on Thursday.
Howe is said to have become ‘exasperated’ by Newcastle’s decision to sell Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon this summer, while he also expects club captain Guimaraes to join Arsenal.
In what turned out to be his final interview as Newcastle manager on Wednesday evening after his side were beaten 4-1 by Bristol City in their pre-season friendly, Howe admitted he could not guarantee that Guimaraes would stay at St James’ Park.
‘Assurances… I don’t think you can push too hard for those. I think I’ve said many times you want players that are committed,’ Howe said.
‘Bruno’s always been committed here. His training performances, his game performances, have been outstanding. Every time he’s worn the shirt, he’s played with the fans by his side. I’d love to see that continue.
‘I think we want to keep all of our best players. They’re so valuable, and as I said numerous times, there aren’t many of them, and to get them and develop them is so difficult.
‘So when you have them, you want to keep them. And Bruno’s very much in that category, he’s an outstanding player.’
Asked if Guimaraes’ transfer link is creating a negative mood at Newcastle, Howe said: ‘Any distraction, if it’s not healthy, is unhealthy. So, yeah.
‘But we’re not in control of that. And to some degree, I don’t think Bruno’s in control of that either.
‘What will be, will be. We can’t control the forces that are at play here, we’ve just got to make sure that when Bruno comes back, we look after him and he trains well, which I’m sure he will do. And he makes a difference as he always has done.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.