Carlos Vela

Real Sociedad are confident of keeping Carlos Vela in their ranks after club president Jokin Aperribay met with Arsenal officials earlier this week in London in order to complete a £10m deal, reports in Spain claim.

The Mexican striker joined Real permanently in the summer of 2012 for £2.5m after struggling for opportunities under Arsene Wenger – but the Gunners inserted a £3.2m clause into the deal which enables them to bring the player back to north London.

And Real Sociedad president recently revealed Arsenal have informed the club of their intention to activate that clause.

"Arsenal have informed us that Vela would be with them next season," he said earlier this month.

However, it is understood that Arsenal's real intention was to bring Vela back to the club for a paltry£3.2m and immediately sell him to another club to for a much larger fee – with a number of clubs including Atletico Madrid prepared to pay more than £20m for his signature.

But according to Marca Real Sociedad are set to hold onto the forward and have convinced Arsenal to waive their buy-back clause for a fee of around £10m - and hope to announce the deal next week.

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Marca reveals the Real Sociedad president was in London on Monday concluding a deal with Arsenal officials - while club chief Angel Oyarzun went to Miami to offer Vela a new lucrative contract that will tie him to the club until 2018.

The Mexican striker ruled himself out of World Cup selection for personal reasons and is currently in Miami enjoying his holidays.

The 25-year-old striker was a sensation in La Liga last season, scoring 16 goals and grabbing 12 assists in 34 appearances.

However, he looks to have failed to earn a place in Wenger's plans as according to reports the French manager prefers to have Joel Campbell back at the Emirates next season rather than Vela.

Indeed, when questioned about Campbell's future after the striker excelled for Costa Rica in their opening World Cup game against Uruguay, Wenger said: "He will definitely come back to us for pre-season, he is maturing well."