The transfer speculation surrounding Olympique Lyon winger Hatem Ben Arfa continues to grow as the Sun claims that the twenty-one year-old has already signed a deal with Arsenal after the Gunners agreed a €20 million deal with OL.
According to English newspaper, the Sun, Arsenal have beaten off competition from Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea with a price tag of around €20m required to prize one of France's leading young lights away from his native country.
It has been no secret that Arsenal boss Arsène Wenger is a keen admirer of the player however the suggestion had been that Ben Arfa would be used by Lyon as a makeweight in a deal to bring Samir Nasri north from Marseille.
Speculation has been rife over the last month that the winger could be on his way out of the Stade Gerland however reports yesterday appeared to indicate that Ben Arfa would be happy signing a new deal for the French giants.
Ben Arfa, born in Paris of Tunisian descent, has played for Lyon since he was only fifteen years old and has been one of many young Frenchman in recent years burdened by the tag of a potential 'new Zidane'.
The youngster has excelled at times this season but has fallen out of favour in recent weeks despite being called up to the French international squad this season, playing five times and scoring one goal for les Bleus.
This move will likely add to the speculation that Lyon are on the verge of agreeing a deal with Nasri, another player to be courted by Wenger, as a direct replacement but also that Arsenal will lose Belarussian Alexander Hleb, who is believed to be the subject of a tug-of-war between Barcelona and Inter Milan.
There has been no official confirmation of the deal from either side as yet.
Robin Bairner (goal.com)
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