Arsenal Transfer News: Pedro Bargain Deal Expected, Latest Petr Cech Rumours

Arsenal are "set to land" Barcelona winger Pedro on a bargain £10.8 million deal, according to Spanish publication Fichajes (h/t George Bellshaw of the Metro).

Pedro remains a spare cog in Barca's prolific attack and has spent much of the season watching Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez rip through defences for Luis Enrique's side.

Although still managing to post quality numbers—Pedro has six goals and six assists in 1,441 minutes' worth of La Liga football this campaign, per WhoScored.com—he is surplus to requirements for the Spanish champions.

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Suarez's recent injury did see Pedro called into Enrique's starting line-up for Sunday's 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid, a result that confirmed Barca's title win.

Bellshaw suggests Pedro is "keen to land a high salary," making the Premier League an obvious choice.

Barca vice-president Javier Faus recently admitted that tax restrictions in Catalonia make it difficult to keep hold of players when English clubs come knocking. He said: "The players have a very short career and it is their right to get what the other clubs could pay them. We can not say: 'Stay here, for half the salary,'" reported by Handelsblatt (via Tom Dutton of the London Evening Standard).

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This notion could come to fruition soon, if Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger wishes to add another tricky, versatile forward to his squad. The Gunners already have Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Danny Welbeck, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Serge Gnabry available to battle for places down the wings.

Cech '99% Certain' of Arsenal Move

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Arsenal aren't so well-stacked in the goalkeeping department, however. Colombian David Ospina has done an adequate job since taking over from Wojciech Szczesny, but a confident upgrade is needed.

According to the Daily Star (h/t Jamie Sanderson of the Metro), Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech is "99% certain" he will make the switch across London. The shred of doubt is reportedly held by Blues owner Roman Abramovich, who needs to decide whether the Premier League champions should strengthen their rivals.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho previously admitted he wants Cech to remain at Stamford Bridge, per Joe Prince-Wright of NBC:

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Viktor Kolar, Cech's agent, suggests the veteran has been "permitted by Chelsea to negotiate with interested parties" over his future, as reported by BBC Sport's Saj Chowdhury. Mourinho isn't sure over this claim but indicates the club will have a major part to play, per Miguel Delaney of ESPN FC:

Cech has been limited to six Premier League displays and nine cup appearances throughout the season, per WhoScored. He is now firmly established as No. 2 behind Thibaut Courtois, who has enjoyed a commanding first season between the Chelsea sticks.

B/R UK's James McNicholas believes Arsenal can close the gap on Chelsea with the right signings:

Mourinho has sold to rivals before—offloading Juan Mata to Manchester United—but appears less willing to push Cech toward the Gunners.

Sanderson's report suggests he won't have the final say, however, something the Portuguese boss continues to hint at in the press.