Arsenal will wait until the end of the transfer window before making a move for Barcelona striker David Villa, according to reports.

The Gunners were linked with a move for the Spanish forward earlier this month, but these hopes were shot down by the La Liga side's president Sandro Rosell, who stated that the player was not for sale.

However, reports claim that Villa is keen on a move to Arsenal and has asked club officials at the Camp Nou for permission to leave this month, as a result of his growing frustrations at failing to hold down a starting place in the team.

Following the news, Arsene Wenger will now wait until the last 48 hours of the transfer window before launching a £10m bid for the 31-year-old, according to The Sun.

Wenger is supposedly not keen on forking out Barca's preferred £15m fee for Villa, but would be happier to pay around a third less than that for a player of his age.

Villa missed the second half of the Catalan club's campaign last season after breaking his leg at the Club World Cup in December 2011.