Arsenal have reached an agreement to sign Ben White form Brighton & Hove Albion.
The deal is subject to a medical, with the fee agreed to be around £50 million.
It comes after weeks of negotiations between the two clubs about add-ons and fee structure.
Finalization of the transfer could still be several weeks away, because White is currently on holiday, having been an unused member of Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
It ends Arsenal’s search for a right-sided centre-half and the fee agreed represents the record they have paid for a defender.
White began his carer with Southampton, but was released by them as a teenager, and joined South Coast rivals Brighton instead. Loan spells followed at Newport County, Peterborough, and Leeds, who he helped guide them to promotion from the Championship.
He returned to the Amex Stadium last season, and became one of the club’s top performers, earning himself international recognition as well.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.