Sokratis Papastathopoulos turned down the chance to join Manchester United to instead link up with Arsenal, according to the Borussia Dortmund defender's father.
The Gunners had been in the driving seat to land the Greece international prior to the Red Devils' late interest, which threatened to derail the £16m transfer.
Sokratis is now expected to complete his switch to the Emirates Stadium before the end of the week, having arrived in London on Monday to finalise terms and undergo a medical.
Charalambos Papastathopoulos has confirmed that Arsenal faced competition for the 29-year-old's signature, but United were too slow in offering a concrete deal.
"There was interest from United but he had to wait until July for them," he is quoted as saying by The Sun. "United have a very good relationship with Dortmund, the teams were talking more closely.
"He chose to go to Arsenal instead. He is happy. He is in England at the moment and everything will go well."
Sokratis, who has a year left to run on his Dortmund contract, will become Arsenal's first signing of the Unai Emery era.
