Fabrizio Romano says Arsenal have transfer 'agreement' with additional target 'identified'

But things are progressing, with transfer ‘insider’ Fabrizio Romano reporting that a fee has been agreed, with only the structure of the fee to be sorted out. Romano told The Boot Room: “Now, the two clubs have an agreement on the fee because the fee they have in mind, Arsenal and Real Sociedad, is potentially okay.

“It’s how to structure this fee – so in terms of add-ons, in terms of payment terms – so there is still some work to do on the structure of the deal. But, the fee they have in mind, Real Sociedad and Arsenal, is quite okay. So, the deal is progressing well. Arsenal are working on it, it could be an important weekend to advance for Merino. Let’s follow the situation hour by hour.”

On top of that, Merino is said to have been left out of Real Sociedad’s squad to face Rayo Vallecano on Sunday in their La Liga opener.

Garcia links

According to Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth, Arsenal are now considering a deal to sign Espanyol’s Joan Garcia in a bid to replace Aaron Ramsdale in the back-up role.

He told GiveMeSport: “Arsenal will, of course, need to go into the market to bring in a goalkeeper [if Aaron Ramsdale leaves]. And the Espanyolgoalkeeper, a Spain Under-21 international,Joan Garcia is a player that they've been looking at. So,he would come in to fill in that quota of the goalkeepers that would be behind David Rayain the pecking order.”