Unai Emery has personally called Ever Banega to convince him to move from Sevilla to Arsenal, according to reports in the Spanish media.

Estadio Deportivo write that Emery has “contacted the player by phone” to try and win him over to the Arsenal project. They admit that previous reports of Banega’s agent meeting with the club in London were false, but insist the Gunners are still interested in signing the midfielder.

Marca add that Sevilla are starting to worry about losing one of their star players. They don’t want to sell at all, but with his release clause of €20m (£17.6m), they really don’t have much choice. Instead they’re planning to meet with the player after the World Cup to explain their plans for the future, and his role in those plans.

The player himself is calm over the whole situation, according to Eldesmarque.com. He just wants to focus on Argentina’s final World Cup group game, and qualifying for the last-16. That’s understandable, with the way their first two group games went.

Personally, I’d be glad to see Arsenal’s transfer business over and done with as soon as possible. It looks like we have another reason to cheer on Nigeria and Alex Iwobi on Tuesday night.