Arsenal have made advances in their pursuit of Red Star Belgrade’s Vasilije Kostov ahead of the summer window.
Last month, Sport Witness relayed news that the Gunners have great interest in the 17-year-old.
We also covered claims from Italy that Red Star Belgrade rejected Arsenal’s bid for the youngster.
The Premier League side have no plans of giving up on the attacking midfielder, who has starred for the Serbian club.
He graduated from their youth system and made his way into their first team. His fine displays also saw him debut for Serbia’s senior team in October.
This season, he’s scored 14 goals and contributed seven assists from 2,926 minutes from 42 matches for Red Star Belgrade, of which 11 goals and seven assists are from 29 league matches.
The teenager’s rapid development has already attracted interest from several European clubs.
Arsenal sorting out details of deal
Sportinjo state Mikel Arteta’s side and Borussia Dortmund are among the clubs who have shown most interest in Vasilije Kostov.
The north London club would have taken the lead in the transfer chase. Red Star Belgrade are ‘on the verge of an agreement’ with Arsenal for his sale and the deal includes €12m in fixed fee rising to €20m with bonuses.
His agent previously managed former Manchester City defender Aleksandar Kolarov. The representative and his club gave a mandate to an unnamed well-known agent to help him find a new club.
A source told the outlet: ‘Arsenal could hardly wait and offered €12m. The leaders of the London club knew that Zvezda would ask for more, so they offered generous bonuses and a percentage of future sales. Details are still to be worked out, but with all the additions, the transfer could exceed €20m, so a deal is on the horizon.’
The report’s title says the player is ‘packing his bags’ to make a switch to London. If all goes well, he could even make a trip to the English capital this week.
Contract, value and agent info
Last October, Vasilije Kostov signed a new contract at Red Star Belgrade until 2028. His value, as per Transfermarkt, now is €18m.
Agency Unnak Sports, owned by agent Nikola Kolarov, represents the Arsenal target.