Arsenal working on a deal for Turkish defender

Arsenal are reportedly seeking to secure the signature of Caglar Soyuncu from Freiburg with a deal for Sokratis Papastathopoulos close to completion.

Sokratis is widely expected to join the Gunners at the start of next month and Sky Sport News claims that the club will shift their attention towards signing Soyuncu, who has been followed by the club over the past six months.

Both Freiburg and Soyuncu have previously confirmed the transfer interest from the Gunners but the club still have to match the German club's £35m price tag for the Turkey international.

Spanish giants Atletico Madrid and Liverpool are also said to have made contact with Freiburg to sign the central defender but the Gunners are seemingly leading the race with head of recruitment Sven Mislintat said to have a good relationship with the Freiburg hierarchy.

Arsenal have so far completed the signings of Stephan Lichtsteiner and Bernd Leno from Juventus and Bayer Leverkusen respectively - the former arriving on a Bosman agreement.