Arsenal are facing late competition from AC Milan for Belgium international Yannick Carrasco having completed the signing of Denis Suarez.
Barcelona confirmed the departure of Suarez, who had his medical in London yesterday, before taking the news down from their club website, but the deal is understood to have gone through.
As with the Spanish midfielder, Arsenal want to take Carrasco on loan until the end of this season with an option to buy.
Arsenal had been offered the 25-year-old winger before the window opened but have only now moved on the deal because Inter Milan are not expected to allow Ivan Perisic to leave on loan despite the Croat submitting a transfer request.
Inter had considered Carrasco as a replacement for Perisic should they have sold him to Arsenal.
Carrasco is desperate to leave Chinese club Dalian Yifang after only a year. It is understood his family have not settled in China.
The former Atletico Madrid player has been offered to a number of clubs, with Milan also expressing an interest.
It pits Arsenal in a head-to-head fight with their former chief executive Ivan Gazidis, who left them to take on a similar role at Milan.
Elsewhere, Idrissa Gana Gueye has submitted a transfer request, although Everton remain adamant they will not sell the midfielder before today’s 11pm deadline.
Paris St-Germain are continuing to push for the signing, having had a bid of £21.5m (€24.5m) rejected this week. PSG are considering a revised offer of £26.2m (€30m), which they are confident Everton will accept.
In other transfer news, Peter Crouch is set to return to the Premier League at the age of 38 with Burnley. The striker has been offered to Burnley manager Sean Dyche as part of Stoke City’s £7m (€8m) bid for Sam Vokes.