Arsenal are stepping up their pursuit of Barcelona attacking midfielder Robert Navarro, and could sign the 15-year-old this week, according to reports.

Barcelona are currently in negotiations with the player over a contract extension, and according to the Daily Mail they’ve offered him new terms. Arsenal and Manchester City have both shown an interest in the past, but City have backed down in the last week.

Things could move very quickly in the coming days though. As soon as Navarro turns 16, he is eligible to move to a new club. His birthday is on Thursday, and so far there’s still no word of a new contract in Spain.

Navarro would be far from the first player to move between the two clubs at youth level. Cesc Fabregas and Hector Bellerin are two notable examples of Barcelona players joining Arsenal. Meanwhile, Marcus McGuane went the other way this season. The 19-year-old made his debut for the first-team not long after.

Bellerin and McGuane probably have a lot of nice things to say about the Arsenal academy and all the people in it, so hopefully they can put in a good word to the youngster. We’ll see if there’s any further progress later this week.