Arsenal have signed the central defender Pablo Marí on loan from Flamengo, with an option to buy this summer, and have made a late move for the Southampton full-back Cédric Soares.
The club are confident of closing a deal for Cédric that would see him join on an initial loan for the remainder of the season as well.
Marí, a 26-year-old Spaniard, had three seasons as a Manchester City employee from 2016, while Arteta was there, but never played for the club, going on loan to Girona, NAC Breda and Deportivo La Coruña. He joined Flamengo in July 2019 and won a league title and the Copa Libertadores with the Brazilian club.
Arteta has been keen to bring in a centre-back but received welcome news on Tuesday when it emerged that the ankle injury suffered by Shkodran Mustafi was not as bad as feared and that the German should not be out for long.
Marí, who is left-footed, has played 22 top-division games in Europe, 20 for Breda in the Netherlands and the others for Mallorca, where he came through the ranks.
Arsenal’s technical director, Edu, told the club’s website: “We have been monitoring Pablo’s career for a while and we are very pleased to have reached agreement with Flamengo.”
Cédric has six months to run on his Southampton contract and has shown no inclination to extend, meaning that the club have been open to offers. They are ready to agree to a package that would be worth £5m to them from Arsenal, taking in the wages they would save on Cédric plus a large loan fee.
Arsenal would prefer to structure the deal this way because it limits their liabilities if Cédric were not to be a success. If he were to be, then they would be in pole position to sign him as a free agent in the summer.
Cédric would arrive as cover for Héctor Bellerín, who has struggled for fitness since his return from cruciate knee ligament surgery, and it could also release Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who has played at right-back, to play in his favoured position of centre midfield. Cédric can also play at left-back, where Arsenal have endured injury problems to Kieran Tierney and Sead Kolasinac.
Southampton have taken the Tottenham full-back Kyle Walker-Peters on loan until the end of the season.