Arsenal are preparing a £25 million bid for Croatia and Besiktas defender Domagoj Vida, according to reports.

Vida starred as Croatia went all the way to the World Cup final this summer, impressing with his dominant performances at centre-half alongside Liverpool’s Dejan Lovren.

And his displays in Russia have caught the attention of a host of club’s across Europe, none less so than Arsenal, who are understood to be keen to land the 29-year-old before the transfer window closes in Thursday evening.

The Sun report the Gunners are preparing a £25 million offer for the Besiktas star, however will wait to sell either Shkodran Mustafi or Danny Welbeck before making an official approach.

The Gunners need to off-load players in order to fund any further transfer business in the coming week after busy summer.

Manager Unai Emery has already made five new signings this summer amounting to a total of £70 million, meaning he must now sell up if he wishes to bring in anyone else.

Some funds have already been raised through the sales of both Chuba Akpom and Jeff Reine-Adelaide, however they now must offload bigger game in the form of Mustafi, Welbeck or either Lucas Perez and David Ospina in order to raise the funds to land Vida before the end of the week.

Vida only joined Besiktas from Dynamo Kiev for £8million in January and the Turkish club have already rejected a £13.5m bid from Liverpool this summer.