Arsenal are on the brink of signing Cedric Soares on an initial loan deal worth £5million before snapping him up in the summer for free on a four-year contract.

The Gunners have been in talks with Southampton about signing the Euro 2016-winning right back before Friday’s transfer deadline.

They are understood to be heading towards a successful conclusion which will see Soares join Spanish centre half Pablo Mari, 26, who Arsenal signed on loan from Flamengo on Wednesday, as a new arrival at the Emirates.

Arsenal have paid an initial £4m to secure Mari until the end of the season, with an option to make it permanent.

They have also discussed a loan deal for Soares, with Arsenal putting together a package of around £5m which will cover a loan fee as well as the 28-year-old’s wages for the rest of the season.

Soares’s Southampton deal expires this summer so such an agreement would allow the south coast club to recoup some of their £4.7m outlay when they signed him from Sporting Lisbon in 2015.

Arsenal would also get the chance to take a closer look at Soares and be in pole position to move for him when he becomes a free agent.