Arsenal have already spent £55m on signing Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad, plus a further £5m on Kepa Arrizabalaga, while they are also close to agreeing a €80m (£69m) deal with Sporting CP to sign Viktor Gyokeres and are set to sign Brentford captain Christian Norgaard for £12m.

Eze has a release clause of £68million, with Palace determined to extract the full amount before sanctioning his exit. But Arsenal will be aiming to knock a lump sum off the transfer fee if they can get the Eagles to agree to a swap deal before the summer transfer window closes.

Arsenal are working on a number of deals behind the scenes after finalising the capture of Martin Zubimendi and Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze is emerging as a serious target