Oleksandr Zinchenko was hailed as "an exceptional footballer" by Mikel Arteta as the Ukraine international prepares to complete his move from Manchester City to Arsenal.
The left-back, who can also play in midfield, has joined up with the Gunners on their United States tour.
His switch from Premier League champions City is yet to be finalised, but it would take something unusual to derail the transfer now.
Zinchenko watched on as Arsenal beat Orlando City 3-1 on Wednesday night, with Gabriel Martinelli's heavily deflected first-half effort followed by goals after the interval from Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson.
Manager Arteta must move on players to ensure Arsenal's squad for the new season is not overloaded, but he is delighted to have Zinchenko's arrival all but sealed.
"As you've seen, he is here," Arteta told a post-match news conference. "There are still a few formalities to get everything completed, but we're really happy to have him.
"I know the player really well; he's an exceptional footballer, and he is someone that is going to bring as well another competitive edge to that dressing room."
Arteta worked with Zinchenko at Manchester City before leaving Pep Guardiola's coaching staff to strike out on his own at Arsenal.
Given Arsenal already have Kieran Tierney as an established left-back, midfield seems likely to be Zinchenko's regular position.
"He was a natural number 10 early in his career and [at City] we converted him into a left-back which can do a lot of things that we want in our way of playing," Arteta said.
"That versatility is something that is going to be important for the team because we have players in that position who are more specific full-backs, so I'm really happy."
Zinchenko, thought to be costing around £30million, will become the second big recruit by Arsenal from City during the off-season, after Gabriel Jesus joined in a £45million deal.
Arteta said Arsenal, who have also spent over £30million on former Porto star Fabio Vieira, must look to push ahead with thinning out their squad now,
"We have to," Arteta said. "We have a big squad and now we have to make things happen."
Al Ittihad 1-2 Al Hilal: Holders into King's Cup final
Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's red card as Saud Abdulhamid's late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King's Cup semi-finals.
Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday's clash.
Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Al Ittihad's Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal's opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.
Al Hilal are 10-time King's Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.
The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the final at the end of May.
Data Debrief: Malcom in the middle
Al Hilal might be missing their star Brazilian Neymar, but his compatriot Malcom is delivering when it comes to playmaking.
The former Zenit attacker set up both of Al Hilal's goals, creating three chances in total and registering a pass accuracy of 92.6 per cent, better than any of his team-mates.
Former Spain boss Del Bosque to oversee RFEF
Former Spain boss Vicente del Bosque will oversee a new committee supervising the RFEF.
Spain, which is due to be one of six host countries for the 2030 World Cup, announced the creation of a special committee until the federation holds elections to replace Luis Rubiales.
That is despite Pedro Rocha having this week been appointed as Rubiales' replacement, though he himself is under investigation amid a corruption probe.
Rubiales was dismissed following his unsolicited kiss on Jenni Hermoso during the Women's World Cup trophy ceremony in 2023.
The federation's former president was then arrested in early April as part of a corruption investigation.
Del Bosque led Spain to three consecutive trophies, winning the European Championships in 2008 and 2012, while also leading the team to their first World Cup success in 2010.
Prior to his time with the national team, he also won two Champions Leagues and two LaLiga titles while in charge of Real Madrid, where he made over 400 appearances as a player.
Preston 0-3 Leicester City: Foxes seal Championship title in style
Leicester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Preston in the Championship on Monday to clinch the title with a game to spare.
Jamie Vardy was the star for the Foxes as he scored in both halves before Kasey McAteer made sure of the points with an unmarked header.
Abdul Fatawu had the chance to cap an already memorable night for the travelling fans but hit the post with his curler.
Preston slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat, while Leicester go into their final game against Blackburn Rovers with the knowledge that they will lift the trophy after the final whistle.
Data Debrief
Jamie Vardy has scored 18 goals this season (two in this game), more than any other Leicester player in the competition. He has also netted in his last three games, scoring four goals in total.
It was a dominant performance from the Foxes, who had 19 shots with 11 of those on target. At the other end, Preston only managed to test Jakub Stolarczyk once from their five attempts.
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