Arsene Wenger confirms Arsenal working on £52m double deal for Lucas Perez and Shkodran Mustafi

Arsene Wenger has confirmed Arsenal are in advanced negotiations over deals for Lucas Perez and Shkodran Mustafi.

The Gunners have been linked with moves for the pair with the transfer window just five days away from closing.

Arsenal are reportedly ready to pay Deportivo £17m for striker Perez, while Valencia will bank £35m by selling centre-half Mustafi.

Wenger has now admitted that the club are trying to complete the transfers and that he is confident of adding players before deadline day.

"We are working on the deals," said Wenger.

"We are not close enough to announce today that they will sign for us, and will we sign anybody before the end of the transfer window? I am 99 per cent confident.

''It was a strange transfer market. I expected it to be easier than ever, but it was more difficult than ever. Not a lot has happened.

''It looks like when you meet other clubs and you have an English passport, you hit these prices which are very difficult to understand compared to the quality of the players.

"It looks like it will be frenetic for me in the last three days. Everybody has sat on their pounds until now. We know they will all splash out now. I expect the next three days to be very, very busy, so be on alert."

Wenger had come in for plenty of criticism for failing to add to his ranks, although he had already signed midfielder Granit Xhaka from Borussia Monchengladbach for around £35million.

Arsenal also signed Bolton defender Rob Holding and young Japanese striker Takuma Asano - who it was announced on Friday has joined Stuttgart on loan for the season having been denied a work permit.

But Wenger failed in a high-profile bid to land Jamie Vardy from Leicester and the deal for Mustafi has been rumbling on for weeks.

Perez is a lesser-known quantity, but, having reportedly been close to completing a move to Everton, Wenger refuted the claim he was signing players now as a reaction to supporters' pressurising him into spending.

''I'm happy when our supporters are happy,'' he said.

''But my job is to make the right decisions. If that is exactly similar to the contract of the players and that maintains the supporters being happy, that is even better. I focus first on making the right decisions for the club."