The last we heard from the Spanish capital, Real Madrid wanted about £25 and a half million for Gonzalo Higuain. Arsenal's valuation was something closer to the neighborhood of £20 million. There's a bit of difference there, but not too much to be worked out. Well, it sounds like it may have been worked out.

Marca is reporting that Arsenal have offered €30 million for the Argentine striker - essentially the exact amount that Madrid want - which is approximately €8 million more than Juventus, the other primary suitor involved. Additionally, Arsenal's fee would be paid in a single lump sum, where Juventus want to pay in a series of installments. As you can probably guess, this all puts Arsenal in the pretty good negotiating position of "having done all the things the other side wants," so if the report is correct, it looks like Higuain could be coming to London in red sooner rather than later.

And there's no reason to doubt the report. According to Lucas Navarrete over at SB Nation's RM site Managing Madrid, the journalist reporting this is a long-time Real Madrid journalist, and actually is Higuain's biographer (having written "Gonzalo Higuaín, el indestructible," the greatest title for a book ever). Ulises Sánchez-Flor appears to have the hookups in the Higuain camp and the Madrid camp, so there's not really a reason to doubt this.

The only hangup is Madrid's desire to create a bidding war - someone, anyone other than Arsenal to make a legitimate bid. Right now they're stalling by waiting for Carlo Ancelotti to (finally) take over as manager, under the premise that the new manager should have a say in how this all goes down. But unless Juventus pony up some cash or another buyer appears - either of which is possible - it appears that Arsenal are in a really good spot to bring in the player Arsene Wenger wants. As always, remember the caveats. There are a lot of moving parts yet to move. But this one's starting to look pretty positive for Arsenal.