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LONDON. — Arsenal have agreed a £30 million deal with Manchester City to sign Oleksandr Zinchenko, according to reports.

The Gunners have been targeting Lisandro Martinez this summer but the Argentina international has been pushing for a move to Manchester United and they have now agreed a €64m (£54.4m) deal with Ajax.

Arsenal have quickly turned their focus to Zinchenko and according to The Guardian, Mikel Arteta’s side have verbally agreed a £30m deal with City for the Ukraine international.

The report claims that personal terms are yet to be agreed but Arsenal are now a step closer to landing their fifth signing of the summer.

Zinchenko, who has won nine trophies during his time at City, would be capable of playing in multiple positions on Arsenal’s left flank. The 25-year-old has also already worked with Arteta during their time together at City.

Zinchenko has been named in City’s travelling squad for their pre-season tour of the United States is keen to leave the Premier League champions in order to secure more playing time.

The Ukraine international is now set to link up with Gabriel Jesus, who also joined Arsenal from City earlier this summer.

City are targeting Brighton’s Marc Cucurella as their replacement for Zinchenko.

Arsenal are still pushing to sign Youri Tielemans from Leicester City but a fee has still not been agreed with the Foxes.

The Gunners are also actively trying to offload Nicolas Pepe, Bernd Leno and Lucas Torreira but have yet to receive acceptable offers. Meanwhile, Arteta says Bukayo Saka is close to signing a new contract with Arsenal.

Saka has evolved into one of Arsenal’s most influential stars but his long-term future at the Emirates has come under doubt with both Liverpool and Manchester City linked with moves.

Recent reports have suggested the English Premier League champions view the England international as a ‘’dream’’ replacement for Raheem Sterling, who completed a move to Chelsea last week.

Saka is said to be among the lowest earners among the Arsenal squad, reportedly on a deal worth £30 000-per-week.

The Gunners are desperate to tie him down to a new deal with Arteta insisting both the club and the player are close to getting it done.

‘’We will try and we both have the same intention and it’s a matter of time,’’ Arteta said.

The Spaniard was speaking after a 2-0 friendly win over Everton in Baltimore. Gabriel Jesus was once again among the goals having also scored in the 5-3 win over Nurnberg last week with Arteta pleased win another solid pre-season showing.

‘’It was good, two really different halves. I think the first half we were really good, really intense,’’ Arteta said.

‘’We understood where the spaces were and the execution was really good. We were a threat all the time, we had a lot of bodies attacking. ‘’We were really direct, the counter press was top, I really liked that we conceded nothing. The second half we started a bit sloppy. We changed the formation and we had too many giveaways, it didn’t give us control of the match.

‘’In the last 20 minutes we changed again and I think we got control again. Overall the boys have done what they are doing in training. They are training really well, really high intensity in every session and you can see the way they play.’’

Arsenal will continue their pre-season campaign against Orlando City on Thursday before taking on Chelsea in the early hours of next Sunday morning in Florida.

The Gunners will be involved in the Emirates Cup once again at the end of July before beginning their English Premier League campaign away to Crystal Palace on August 5.

And Arteta says William Saliba is in his plans for next season and has promised to give the defender the chance to establish himself as a first-team star at Arsenal.

The 21-year-old has had a difficult time since joining the Gunners in a £27million deal in 2019 and is yet to make a senior appearance for the club, having been immediately loaned back to Saint-Etienne before further spells at Nice and Marseille.

His excellent performances in the south of France last season earned him a place in Didier Deschamps’ national team and there were suggestions he had reservations about returning to Arsenal.

Saliba wants regular first-team football in a World Cup year but had found opportunities limited under Arteta previously, though the Arsenal boss says things will be different this time around. — Metro.