BY JEM MAIDMENT Brazil midfielder Felipe Melo de Carvalho is on the verge of a move to Arsenal, according to his current club Fiorentina. Pantaleo Corvino, Sports Director for the Serie A side, confirmed late on Tuesday that he is in talks with the Gunners about the sale

Brazil midfielder Felipe Melo de Carvalho is on the verge of a move to Arsenal, according to his current club Fiorentina.

Pantaleo Corvino, Sports Director for the Serie A side, confirmed late on Tuesday that he is in talks with the Gunners about the sale of the 26-year-old.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is a long-time admirer of Melo, who previously played in Spain for Mallorca and Racing Santander and for Flamengo, Gremio and Cruzeiro back in his native Brazil.

Juventus are also known to be monitoring Melo, but Corvino believes he will move to Emirates Stadium.

"Arsenal have made an offer for Melo and (Arsene) Wenger wants to speak with me again," he said.

"I've not excluded anything because we could also obtain an interesting exchange on a technical level, so I'm not ruling anything out."

Melo is no stranger to north London after making his international debut at Emirates in Brazil's 2-0 victory over Italy back in February.

Meanwhile, Arsenal's first team squad, minus several senior players who are being given extra time off after international commitments, returned to London Colney on Monday for pre-season training.

1