Arsenal could be set to finalize their first high profile signing, after reports in Yahoo! Eurosport suggest the club are in the process of finalizing a £14 million bid to sign the Bayern Munich midfielder Luiz Gustavo, who missed out on the opening weekend of the German league.

Arsene Wenger has been working hard behind the scenes to try and finalize a deal for his targets, but has seen little luck in sealing deals against rival clubs. The Gunners have already lost out on key targets in the striking department, and will have a race against time if they decide to turn to any new targets. The transfer market for many managers has been a tough ground to conduct business due to the sheer intensity of the competition for each player. With players’ salaries going skywards, even clubs like Arsenal have to take a step back and look at the big picture. Cash rich clubs like Anzhi Makhachkala signed Samuel Eto’o to make him the world’s highest earning player, but now face a problem signing more players due to the wage budget concentrating on one player, and are now trying to get him off the books for a cut price deal.

The Arsenal midfield has been in the transition phase ever since the departure of former skipper Cesc Fabregas and Alex Song to Barcelona and Samir Nasri to rivals Manchester City. The look of the midfield sees Mikel Arteta sitting in the engine room while Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla have taken the responsibility of taking play forward and combining with the strikers. Wenger has been linked with a move for Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini, but no bid has since been submitted to Everton.

Gustavo’s career kicked off at Corinthians Alagoano in 2007, and with a year long loan spell at 1899 Hoffenheim, the midfielder decided to switch permanently to Germany. With three quality seasons at the club, Bayern came calling and Gustavo made the switch in 2011. With 64 appearances and six goals, the player is looking for a permanent starting eleven spot, and Arsenal can certainly offer him more games than Bayern.