The Gunners are closing in on signing another one of their summer targets as their total spending nears £100m.
Arsenal have reportedly reached full verbal agreement with Manchester City over the transfer of Gabriel Jesus.
Jesus has been open about the prospect of leaving City after the arrival of Erling Haaland, which further limits his chances of getting game time at Etihad.
Following a few meetings between Arsenal and City, it seems the two sides have reached an agreement to finalize the deal.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the London side will pay a guaranteed fee of £45m for the Brazilian star. They will now move on to negotiate a contract with Jesus’ representatives.
In case he joins Arsenal, Jesus would become the Gunners’ fourth summer signing. Matt Turner, Marquinhos, and Fabio Vieira have already joined Mikel Arteta’s side ahead of the next season.
The deals for Turner and Marquinhos reportedly cost Arsenal around £7.5m and £3m, respectively. With the Gunners paying a £34m fee to Porto for Vieira, the new transfer takes the club’s total summer spending to the vicinity of £100m.
That’s still £50m less than what Arsenal spent last summer, where a busy transfer window was not enough to bring the Gunners back to the Champions League.
Jesus will provide Arteta with a reliable striker in his squad for the next season. Following the departures of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, the Spanish coach can use both Jesus and Eddie Nketiah upfront.