ARSENAL are closing in on a deal to sign Chelsea’s Willian on a free.

But there are still hurdles to be cleared before agreement can be reached with the Brazilian, who turns 32 on Sunday.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta is keen to sign the winger on a three-year deal.

But that is dependent on Henrikh Mkhitaryan not returning from his loan at Roma.

And Arteta also needs to overcome fears about the player’s age and the club becoming too reliant on agent Kia Joorabchian.

Willian, who missed Chelsea’s FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal on Saturday injured, is definitely leaving Stamford Bridge after running down his contract.

The Blues offered him a two-year deal but would not agree to his request for an extra 12 months.

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Arsenal are ready to meet those demands though if it gives them an edge over Barcelona, Inter Milan and Inter Miami, who are all interested.

The Gunners are set to offer Willian £130,000 a week, similar to what he earns at Chelsea.

But they can only pay that if they get £180,000-a-week Mkhitaryan off the wage bill, with an initial agreement in place for him to stay on loan at Roma.

Arsenal are yet to talk personal terms, but the transfer appeared to be confirmed in a leaked PES 2021 clip.

But they are not exactly short of wingers, with Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang, Nicolas Pepe, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Reiss Nelson.

And club chiefs are aware of growing criticism from fans that they are allowing Joorabchian to dictate transfer policy.

He represents David Luiz and Cedric Soares, who both got new contracts last month.

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He has also been pushing them to snap up Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho on loan.

Arsenal do want another loan deal for Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos.

The LaLiga champions prefer to sell though.

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