Arsenal agree £16.5m deal for Cristhian Mosquera

Cristhian Mosquera is set to sign for Arsenal for £13m plus up to £3.5m in bonuses 

Arsenal have been in negotiations with Valencia over the 21-year-old defender since their initial offer of £14m including bonuses was rejected by the La Liga side earlier this month.

It is believed an agreement has been struck for the Gunners to pay an initial £13m plus up to £3.5m in bonuses.

The 21-year-old is expected to fly into the UK in the next 24-48 hours for a medical and to finalise the move.

Personal terms on a five-year deal have been agreed in principle, with Mikel Arteta hoping the deal will be completed in time for his side's pre-season tour of Asia starting next week. 

The move comes after Arsenal have been aiming to add a young defender to their squad to boost William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes in the middle of the backline, after the talented centre-back established himself as a first choice for Valencia over the past two campaigns.

Mosquera, who was born in Alicante and joined Valencia's youth set-up as a 12-year-old back in 2016.

The defender represented Spain at the Euro U21s Championship this summer but is also eligible to play for Colombia.

The 6ft 2in defender can play at both centre-back and right-back and has now racked up 90 senior appearances for Valencia, scoring one goal along the way, starting 37 of the club's 38 La Liga matches last term. 

The 21-year-old won 70.7% of his ground duels in La Liga last season, better than any other central defender.

He also won possession an average of 5.15 times per 90 minutes, the third-highest figure in the division among players in his position.