Arsenal have stepped up their chase for Isco, with the English Premier League side matching the Malaga playmaker's buyout clause, as Arsene Wenger looks to bring one of the leading lights of Europe to the Emirates.
The Gunners are expected to spend some money in the summer window, with the club having over £100 million in cash reserves.
While the priority is to bring in a goalscoring striker at the end of the season - David Villa and Stevan Jovetic being the two most likely candidates - Wenger is always on the lookout for bright young talents.
Isco has been Malaga's best player this season, and Arsenal have reportedly tabled a €35 million (£30 million, $45 million) bid - his buyout clause -- according to Spanish website Fichajes.net.
Malaga, however, are reluctant to sell their star player and are trying their best to hold onto the 20-year-old - although they will have no choice if Isco decides to leave and Gunners have indeed matched the release fee.
The Spanish club are also still in some financial strife, and they might be forced to cash in sooner rather than later and Arsenal seem to now be in pole position to take advantage, like they did with Santi Cazorla and Nacho Monreal in the last two transfer windows.
Meanwhile, Per Mertesacker revealed the defenders took it upon themselves to improve their defense following that shambolic 2-1 loss to Tottenham. Arsenal have improved considerably since then, turning in two clean sheets and posting similar 2-0 wins at Bayern Munich and Swansea respectively.
"We do (this) before every game," Mertesacker told the club's official website. "But the defenders did it on our own and I think there has been quite an improvement. We saw ourselves as a unit on the television and I think it was a good thing to do because sometimes you have a different view on the pitch and you feel different.
"It was everybody's decision (to do it). We all had the feeling there was something to do so everybody was involved and everyone felt we needed to improve and speak more.
"The most important thing we learned was to cover each other more. There were a lot of situations where there was no pressure on the ball and the back four was not prepared for any balls between us.
"We are always watching videos. That is not the point. Sometimes it is good to see situations and I think the very important scenes against Tottenham made it more clear for everyone."
