Galatasaray 'confident' of signing Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini

The 31-year-old, who was largely used as a substitute last season, is in the final year of his contract at Emirates Stadium and Hamza Hamzaoglu’s side have identified him as the ideal man to rival Felipe Melo in defensive midfield.

Despite facing stiff midfield competition from the likes of Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere, Flamini recently reiterated his desire to fight for his place at the club.

“I don’t like to give up that easily,” said the Frenchman. “In football everything can move very easily one way and another. I don’t like to look back at the past. We are starting a new season and I’m focused on that one.

“I played a lot in the first part of the season and then I got injured in January and after that the team has been winning nearly every game, so it’s difficult to complain. Everything will be open and I will work hard to get my place back.”

Gala representative Cenk Ergun is expected to travel to London for talks with Arsenal officials next week where he’s expected to table a bid in the region of £2.5m for the ex-AC Milan player.

Flamini won’t be short of friends in Istanbul if he does decide to leave this summer, with Lukas Podolski joining the club last month and Emmanuel Eboue leaving for the Super Lig side in 2011.