Arsenal set to announce first summer signing 'soon' after 'beating Real Madrid to player'

Arsenal look set to finally announce their first signing of the summer after beating Champions League holders Real Madrid to the signature of a talented young star.

Mikel Arteta will be hoping this summer transfer window and pre-season can be the one where he finally turns Arsenal into Premier League title winners.

The Gunners came out of nowhere in 21/22 to be a genuine title contender despite not finishing in the top four in the seasons before.

Arteta's men then solidified their reputation as challengers last season, as they took Man City to the final day last season.

Arsenal have been linked with a lot of players in the last few weeks, with Everton's Amadou Onana and Bilbao's Nico Williams appearing in the headlines.

However, it's a much smaller but potentially significant deal that the club are set to complete with Espanyol goalkeeper, Joan Garcia, set to put pen to paper.

Reports in Spain via The Mirror, claim Arsenal will announce the arrival of Garcia 'imminently' after fending off competition from Real Madrid.

The 23-year-old made 21 appearances for Espanyol last season, as he helped earn promotion back to Spain's top flight.

Garcia has four years left on his current deal and spoke on his future towards the end of last season.

Joan Garcia- Getty

“I have always felt the love of the fans,” Garcia said.

“I'm very happy that people are with me. And for that part (transfers), don’t worry, I’m very good here and above all I would ask you to be calm and encourage us.”

The signing of Garcia may come as a surprise to many Arsenal fans considering the club activated the deal to see David Raya stay at the club on a permanent basis.

While Garcia's age and lack of top-flight experience will mean Raya's number-one shirt won't be under any current threat, Arteta certainly isn't signing him to clean gloves and he has already demonstrated he isn't afraid to switch up goalkeeper.

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