La Liga giants Barcelona are in the driving seat to sign precocious Arsenal defensive midfielder Marcus McGuane, as per reports.

The online edition of The Sun citing Spanish journalist Kike Marin has reported that Barcelona are closing in on highly-rated Arsenal starlet Marcus McGuane, and he has ignored overtures from Rangers to move to Spain.

Italian Serie A club Napoli also explored the possibility of signing McGuane in the January transfer window.

The midfielder has played nonstop at the Gunners for the past 12 years, having first trained with the club at U6 level.

He made his first-team debut in Arsenal's 4-2 win at BATE Borisov in the Europa League September 2017, and also came off the bench against Red Star Belgrade the following month.

Marcus McGuane is an England U19 international but qualifies to represent the Republic of Ireland through his grandparents.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : arsenal.com