Arsenal’s pursuit of Schalke fullback Sead Kolasinac is nearing completion, but has not been finalised as of yet – at least not officially and Spurs and Everton fancy killing it.

• Player has reportedly had Arsenal medical
• Kolasinac would arrive on a free
• A solid, no-nonsense defender, he would add instant steel to Arsenal’s side

According to two separate reports, both Everton and north London rivals Tottenham have been linked with approaches to try and hijack Sead Kolasinac’s move before his future is officially committed between now and the end of the campaign.

Kolasinac, 23, will be out of contract this summer and has been on Arsenal’s radar since the summer of 2015. Having impressed for his native Bosnia at the World Cup in the previous year, he went from strength-to-strength before sustaining a lengthy ligament injury.

In a story we covered earlier this week, his father clarified the ongoing situation by confirming he is yet to have signed a deal anywhere – but his future would be decided in the ‘next week’. This was then followed by more reports that he had signed an Arsenal deal and completed his medical while in London.

Ben Davies is Spurs’ current cover at left-back when first-choice Danny Rose is injured or otherwise unavailable. Everton would arguably make better use of Kolasinac’s services, should he decide to join Ronald Koeman’s project at Goodison – but with Nacho Monreal past his best and Kieran Gibbs reportedly destined for a summer exit, he’d be better placed to join the Gunners.

Wages could also be a factor, although it’s unlikely that either Everton or Spurs would be prepared to offer him a relatively high weekly salary: possibly in excess of £100k-a-week.