Arsenal Report: Santi Cazorla Deal Will Be Completed Within Next 48 Hours

Personal terms between embattled Malaga midfielder Santi Cazorla and Arsenal had already been secured last week, with the Spanish international voicing his desire to leave the turmoil-ridden club.

According to Sky Sports News, a fee of £17.3 million has now been agreed upon between the two clubs, and Cazorla is set to fly to North London to complete a medical and finalize his transfer within the next 48 hours.

The arrival of club president Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family, seemed to remedy the Spanish outfit's financial problems in 2010.

A historically mid-level club, Malaga had only returned to first-division football in 2008, and had never finished higher than seventh place in La Liga before Al-Thani's arrival.

While Al-Thani presided over a massive influx of talent—last summer saw the club gorge upon 16 new players, according to TransferMarkt—that propelled Malaga to a top-four finish in La Liga, the club have once again become ridden by debt.

Bought for some £20 million from Villarreal a season ago, Malaga will now look to sell Cazorla on, hoping to obtain a fee that is competitive with the club's initial purchase price and that will take a chunk out of the sizable losses.

Cazorla would become the third recruit for Arsene Wenger this summer, joining Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud at the Emirates.

Rumors of his arrival have been met with rampant enthusiasm from Arsenal supporters, who know him well from Arsenal's Champions League quarterfinal fixture against Villarreal in 2009.

Blessed with supreme tactical knowledge of the game, not to mention sumptuous skill, many have spoken of the 27-year-old Cazorla as the sort of player who might finally help cut into the glaring gulf that was created when former captain and midfield talisman Cesc Fabregas left the club in 2011.