Arsenal Transfer News: Gunners Reportedly Close to Landing Santi Cazorla

Arsenal have moved one step closer to signing Santi Cazorla by agreeing to personal terms with the talented winger, based on a report from Sid Lowe and David Hytner of the Guardian.

The 27-year-old Malaga star has become a popular transfer target due to the team's troubling financial situation, and the reported agreement would seemingly give the Gunners a leg up in the negotiations with Los Boquerones.

Malaga must settle their debt issues before they can bring in other players, and the easiest way to do that would be selling off players currently on the squad, according to ESPN.

Cazorla has been on the Arsenal radar for a long time after several successful seasons in La Liga. He has scored 36 career goals in Spain's top division during time with Villarreal, Recreativo and Malaga, which he joined before last season.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger still needs to work out a fee to complete the potential deal, but Malaga has started feeling the pressure to get things sorted out. That should help move the process along with a July 31st deadline looming for the Spanish club.

It also means a final decision should be made in less than a week, unlike other transfer sagas that drag on for months, including the current one with Arsenal superstar Robin van Persie.

Cazorla would be a terrific addition for the Gunners. Considering the team has spent most of the offseason looking to add pieces to its attack, finding a player like Cazorla to put even more pressure on opposing back lines would be huge.

He features plenty of pace and has shown off a dangerous long-range shot to go along with strong distribution skills from the outside. He's really the type of player who can take an entire attack to the next level.

Wenger has already made a couple additions in Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud, but he has to keep wheeling and dealing just in case Van Persie does end up leaving. It's going to take quite a few players to make up for that single loss, if it does occur.

The Gunners have already begun preseason preparations for next season with a handful of exhibition matches. That means Cazorla would have to get up to speed quickly if he joins the team, but he has enough talent to make a smooth transition.

There are still some hurdles to jump in the coming days, but it appears that Arsenal currently sits in the driver's seat when it comes to the Cazorla sweepstakes.

And that's a nice place to be.