Barcelona are set to open talks with Arsenal over a summer swoop for defender Hector Bellerin, according to Sport.
The Spanish newspaper has reported that new Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde has given the thumbs-up for the club to make a move for their academy product.
Sport claim that the Catalan giants will shortly make contact with Arsenal to begin negotiations about Bellerin transferring back to the club he left at the age of 16 to pursue a career in the Premier League.
Right-back Bellerin has been targeted to fill the gap that Dani Alves left last year when he moved to Juventus.
Bellerin began his football career at Barcelona, joining the youth academy at just eight-years-old, and moved to Arsenal in 2011, before starting his senior career with the Londoners just two years later.
With negotiations imminent between the Spanish club and their London counterparts, Arsenal are also reportedly linked with Barcelona’s own star Arda Turan.
However, both players have a lot of time remaining on their contracts, with Bellerin signed on a long-term contract until 2022, while Turan has three years left at Nou Camp.
Gunners boss Arsenal Wenger is likely to fight hard to hang on to Bellerin, who is regarded as a key player at Arsenal even though his form dipped in the second half of the recently completed season and he was dropped from the side in favour of midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.