Arsenal have reportedly come forward with a second official bid for Ajax defender Jurrien Timber.
The Gunners are understood to have failed with an opening proposal of £30m for the Dutchman, who has also been linked with Manchester United since Erik ten Hag's arrival at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils pushed for the signing of Timber last summer before capturing Lisandro Martinez instead, and the former was seen attending their FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City earlier this month.
However, Arsenal have now emerged as the favourites to bring Timber to the Premier League, and the 22-year-old is understood to be pining for a move to the Emirates Stadium.
After falling short of Ajax's valuation with their first bid, journalist Fabrizio Romano reports that Arsenal have now made their second official offer and are edging closer to an agreement.
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Romano states that Arsenal's second bid is worth between €45m (£38.5m) and €48m (£41m), and there is confidence that a deal will be completed imminently.
Mikel Arteta's team were already believed to have reached a verbal agreement with Ajax over the signing of Timber, who has apparently already agreed terms on a five-year contract.
Timber is understood to 'love' the project that Arteta is building at Arsenal, and the centre-back will earn a yearly wage of €8m (£6.8m) in North London, twice as much as he currently pockets with Ajax.
Timber has spent the last nine years in an Ajax jersey since leaving Feyenoord's academy in 2014, and the 22-year-old has amassed six goals and four assists from 121 games for the Amsterdam giants.
The Netherlands international - who can play as a right-back but occupied a central role during the 2022-23 season - came up with two goals and two assists in 47 matches last term, starting all six of Ajax's matches in the Champions League.
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Timber boasts two Eredivisie titles and one KNVB Beker crown with Ajax, while he was also named the Eredivisie's Player of the Year for the 2021-22 campaign and boasts 15 caps for the Netherlands, appearing as an unused substitute in the recent Nations League finals.
While Arsenal are known to be prioritising midfield reinforcements, defensive additions have also been on Arteta's agenda ahead of the anticipated exits of Auston Trusty, Kieran Tierney, Rob Holding and Cedric Soares.
The Gunners boss is apparently planning to revert Ben White to a central role next season as cover for William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, which could see Timber battle for the right-back spot with the injury-plagued Takehiro Tomiyasu.
The experienced Cedric is supposedly keen to stay and fight for his place at Arsenal, but he is only under contract until 2024 and would be pushed further down the pecking order by the arrival of Timber.
The Ajax man could become Arsenal's second signing of the summer window after Kai Havertz, whose £65m arrival from Chelsea will likely be confirmed this week.
Ben Knapton
