Arteta says he expects news regarding the signing of Rekik very soon
|Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said that he expects news regarding the signing of 19-year-old centre back Omar Rekik from Hertha Berlin very soon.
The Gunners came close to signing the promising defender in the closing stages of the summer transfer window but were unable to get the deal over the line. The player has been training with the Under-23 team, according to Chris Wheatley of football.london.
He is expected to sign for the club for £542,000. It is understood that he has been promised the opportunity to train with the senior side and will play for the Under-23s until he is ready to make the step up.
Rekik is a right-sided central defender who has been playing on the left and in defensive midfield. His versatility is sure to have attracted academy manager Per Mertesacker and the rest of the decision makers at Arsenal. The Netherlands-born player has played for Tunisia’s Under-21 side. He has represented clubs like Feyenoord, Manchester City, PSV Eindhoven and Marseille at the youth level.
His brother, Karim Rekik, plays in the same position as him and signed for Sevilla at the end of the summer transfer window.
Arteta admitted that the player is a young talent who the club has been following for a long time and the Gunners believe he has a bright future in the game. On Rekik, he said:
“We will announce it when we possibly can, he is a young talent that we have been following for a while that has a really bright future, but we will give more details when we can.”
On whether he expects something very soon on him, he said:
“Yes.”
On whether it could today, Arteta said:
“I don’t know! Very soon.”