Arsenal are set to win the race for Dani Ceballos and William Saliba over Tottenham Hotspur, according to reports.

Sky Sports report that Arsenal are only waiting on Real Madrid Zinedine Zidane to approve a loan deal for Ceballos to Arsenal this season. Meanwhile, the Gunners are also ‘close to agreeing’ a deal with St. Etienne to sign William Saliba.

Ceballos had been in talks with Tottenham Hotspur over a permanent move, but both the player and his club prefer him to join Arsenal on loan. The deal is now expected to be completed, leaving money in Arsenal’s transfer budget for other targets.

Spurs had also held talks with St. Etienne over Saliba, but again, the player preferred to join Arsenal. Sky claim the Gunners are set to secure a £27m deal with the defender loaned back for the 2019/20 season.

Since Arsenal are paying in instalments and loaning Saliba back for the season, this also won’t have a major effect on the summer budget.

If the reports are accurate, these would be very shrewd deals by Arsenal. Ceballos is a talented midfielder who could help the team replace Aaron Ramsey on a temporary basis, whilst Saliba is one for the future in defence.

With hardly any money spent on the duo this summer, Arsenal could move onto other incomings, such as Kieran Tierney at left-back, a winger or maybe another centre-back.