ARSENAL ARE CLOSE to completing the signing of Gonzalo Higuain after the Real Madrid forward agreed in principle to a four-year deal.
According to reports, Higuain has agreed personal terms and could join the English Premier League club before their tour of Asia, which begins on 11 July.
The Argentina international is believed to be Arsene Wenger’s main transfer target and the Frenchman is prepared to break the club’s transfer record to sign him. Arsenal are believed to be paying in the region of £22 million for the 25-year-old, smashing the £15m they paid for Andrey Arshavin.
With bonuses, Higuain’s contract is believed to be worth up to £150,000 a week, which would take him above Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski as the club’s highest-paid player. The departure of Higuain would need to be approved by the incoming Real Madrid coach, likely to be Paris Saint-Germain’s Carlo Ancelotti.
Arsenal are expected to spend heavily in the off-season as they look to bolster a squad that finished fourth in 2012/13. Manchester United star Wayne Rooney is one of several players to be linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium. But Chelsea remain favourites to sign the England international should he decide to leave United.
Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov has urged Wenger to chase Rooney and said the move would be ‘great’ for club and player.
