Luke Freeman, the Gillingham teenager, is on the verge of completing a move to Arsenal.

The 15-year-old striker has attracted interest from several Barclays Premier League clubs - including Newcastle United and West Ham United - since rising to prominence earlier this season, but now appears set for a move to the Emirates Stadium.

The financially-challenged League One side are resigned to losing the services of Freeman, who became the youngest player to feature in the FA Cup when he appeared as a late substitute against Barnet in the first round back in November.

Paul Scally, the Gillingham chairman, now expects the youngster to complete the formalities of his move over the coming days with a fee in the region of £200,000 the reported cost to the north Londoners.

“We have agreed in principal a deal for Luke to go to Arsenal,” Scally said. “We are still waiting on some of the finer details to be concluded but we are confident that it will happen very soon.

“It is a shame for Gillingham to lose a special talent such as Luke but we cannot stand in the way of such a fantastic opportunity.

“Arsenal have gone about their business in a fair and commendable way so it was a pleasure to do the deal with them. They are a fantastic club and I know that they are the right ones to take Luke on and make him into a Premiership player.”