Arsenal could reportedly announce the signing of Fabio Vieira from Porto as early as Friday.
The 22-year-old has been linked with the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool over the past few months, with the Reds said to have first refusal on his signing this summer.
However, in an unexpected twist of events, Arsenal are reportedly closing in on Vieira's signing after agreeing a deal with Porto on Friday, which will see the Gunners pay an upfront fee of €35m (£29.9m).
The fee could rise to €40m (£34.2m) with performance-related add-ons, and Vieira has seemingly wasted no time in trying to finalise the switch to Mikel Arteta's side.
According to The Express' Ryan Taylor, Vieira has already touched down in the English capital and will complete his Arsenal medical on Friday before an announcement is made.
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Taylor adds that Arsenal are primed to confirm Vieira's signing over the weekend, but should the process go quicker than expected, the Portugal Under-21 international could be unveiled within the next 24 hours.
Vieira is poised to sign a five-year deal at the Emirates Stadium until the summer of 2027, and Porto reportedly decided to accept a lower fee than his €50m (£42.7m) release clause.
The versatile midfielder - who can feature in the number eight, number 10 role or out wide - has spent the last 14 years at Porto and prepares to leave having scored 10 goals and provided 18 assists in 76 appearances.
Vieira scored seven of those goals and set up 16 more in 39 appearances across all tournaments last term, including six strikes and 14 assists from 27 Primeira Liga outings.
Only Benfica's Rafa (15) set up more top-flight goals than Vieira in Portugal last season, and the midfielder won the league and cup double with Sergio Conceicao's side in 2021-22.
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Vieira is yet to make his senior Portugal debut but has racked 13 goals and four assists in 21 matches for the Under-21s, and he was crowned Player of the Tournament at last year's European Championships.
The two-time Primeira Liga winner is set to become Arsenal's second signing of the summer transfer window after the Gunners announced the signing of 19-year-old attacker Marquinhos from Sao Paulo.
Vieira's move to the Emirates is not expected to jeopardise Arsenal's pursuit of Youri Tielemans, with the Leicester City man still at the top of their list of targets for the coming weeks.
Arteta's side are also thought to be inching closer to a deal for Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus, with former Liverpool left-back Jose Enrique going as far to claim that the deal is already done.
Goalkeeper Matt Turner will also arrive from New England Revolution imminently, while Bernd Leno, Nicolas Pepe and Lucas Torreira could all head for the exit door before the new season.
The latter's proposed permanent move to Fiorentina has collapsed, but Serie A giants Lazio are thought to be interested in a deal for the Uruguay international.
Ben Knapton
