£34m star Arsenal and Tottenham are ‘fighting over’ already has a preference

Highly-rated Celta Vigo midfielder Gabri Veiga has made it clear he would rather join Arsenal than north London rivals Tottenham amid interest from both clubs in the summer transfer window. Other Premier League clubs including Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle and reigning champions Manchester City are keen on acquiring the 21-year-old’s services as well.

Le10 Sport in France claim that PSG are not interested in signing him but Arsenal and Tottenham are some of the main clubs ‘fighting’ for his signature.

However, according to AS, Veiga has his heart set on joining the Gunners. Spanish journalist Manu Sainz claims Arsenal are the English club the Spaniard “likes the most” and would be the favourites to snap him up if they were to lodge an official bid.

Speaking on ASTV, Sainz said: “The club in England he likes the most, which we published a while back, is Arsenal. Arsenal is the club. If Arsenal gets into the bidding for Veiga, then they will most likely get him, because he enjoys the football Arsenal play and he would like to work with Arteta. It’s football, and he would have an advantage there.”

Arsenal have already hit the ground running this summer. Last month, they acquired the services of Kai Havertz from Chelsea for a fee of around £65million and look set to complete the signings of Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice in the coming days.

Arsenal have agreed a £34m deal with Ajax for Timber, who completed his medical earlier this week. The Gunners have also finally come to terms with West Ham over the structure of their £105m swoop for Rice with the Evening Standard claiming he has passed his medical as well.

But there is still more work to be done in the market before Mikel Arteta is satisfied with his squad depth. It is understood that the 41-year-old wants to bring in another midfielder to replace the recently departed Granit Xhaka.

Romeo Lavia is said to be Arteta’s top target in the centre of the park but there is also interest in Veiga. The Spain Under-21 international scored 11 goals and created four assists in 38 La Liga appearances for Celta Vigo last season and won the division’s player of the month award in February.

Celta Vigo are keen to keep hold of their rising star but are willing to let him go if they receive an adequate offer for him. Reports suggest that he has a release clause of just £34m, making any deal relatively easy to strike. A fee in this region would prove to be a steal for any top European club as the player still has two years remaining on his deal at the Estadio de Baladios and bags of potential.