Valencia boss coy on Francis Coquelin as reports claim Arsenal midfielder has already agreed terms

Valencia boss Marcelino Garcia Toral remains coy about the possibility of signing Francis Coquelin from Arsenal during the current January transfer window amid reports in France claiming that the La Liga side have already agreed personal terms with the midfielder and the deal between the clubs could be imminent.

The 26-year-old midfielder has been tipped to leave the Emirates Stadium this month after falling out of favour for Arsene Wenger during the opening half of the season, making only one start in the Premier League.

West Ham and Crystal Palace were said to be ready to take advantage of the situation to lure him away from Arsenal ahead of the second part of the season.

However, earlier this week Cadena Ser reported that Valencia were also ready to join the battle after Marcelino already considered his arrival during the last summer transfer window.

The Mirror later added that the La Liga side had launched a £12m ($16.2m) offer with hope of beating the Hammers and the Eagles to his signature.

Wenger gave Valencia fresh hopes of winning the race on Tuesday [9 January] after confirming that Coquelin could leave Arsenal this month while ruling out conducting business with West Ham.

"It's a possibility but nothing is decided. It would not be for West Ham," Wenger said in his press conference ahead of the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Chelsea. "We have no contact with West Ham.

But Marcelino refused to be that optimistic when asked about the potential arrival of the Arsenal midfielder after Valencia secured qualification for the Copa del Rey quarter final with an impressive 4-0 victory over Las Palmas.

"I do not want to anticipate something that is not done. I don't want to speak about hypothesis," Marcelino said on Tuesday night when asked for his opinion about the Arsenal midfielder.

"I can talk about the players who are here and if anyone joins us [this month] I will happily talk about him in due course. It is very difficult to talk about players who are not here. I am very satisfied with the players I have and the performance we did today. If a players arrives before 31 January 31 I will explain the reason behind his signing."

French publication RMC is claiming that a deal between the clubs could eventually be struck in the next 24 hours with Coquelin having already agreed personal terms to complete a four-and-a-half year transfer to the La Liga side.

In that case, the Frenchman would become Valencia's second addition of the January transfer window following the loan arrival of Luciano Vietto from Atletico Madrid.

The Spanish club have since dropped a strong hint that the announcement of Coquelin's arrival is imminent after tweeting an image of a suitcase with the Frenchman's initials on the front.