Arsenal will reportedly have to wait until the end of the season before they can officially make Monchi their new technical director.

The Gunners have honed in on the Roma transfer chief in recent weeks with the hope of having him in place before the summer transfer window opens.

Spanish outlet Marca claims that Monchi is already preparing for life in North London, but he will not leave his current position at the Stadio Olimpico until his contract expires on June 30.

Arsenal were rumoured to be willing to pay £1m to buy out Monchi's contract, but they are now happy to wait another four months if they can reach a verbal agreement.

Monchi has previously worked with Unai Emery at Sevilla and will fill the void left by Sven Mislintat's departure earlier this month.

Having discovered the likes of Alberto Moreno, Jesus Navas, Sergio Ramos, Dani Alves and Ivan Rakitic at Sevilla, Monchi switched to Roma in 2017 and is behind the signings of Justin Kluivert, Cengiz Under and Nicolo Zaniolo.