Gervinho
Gervinho struggled to make an impact last season and has been heavily linked with a move to Roma. [Reuters

Roma are hoping to tie up a deal for Arsenal forward Gervinho within the coming days after it was reported that officials from the Italian club would arrive in London on Wednesday.

Italian website Tutto Mercato reports that representatives from both clubs will meet in order to try and agree terms on a deal that would see the Ivorian forward reunited with former manager Rudi Garcia.

The 26 year old flourished under Garcia at Lille, playing an important role in helping the club secure the Ligue 1 title in 2011 as he scored 15 league goals and provided another 10 for his teammates.

In just two seasons at Lille he scored 28 league goals, but he has struggled to replicate this form since moving to the Emirates in the summer of 2011 for a fee of around £10.8m.

A disappointing return of just four goals in his first campaign in England was then followed by a slight improvement as he netted on five occasions but he saw his first team opportunities severely limited by Arsene Wenger.

Gervinho would start just 12 Premier League games, making a further six appearances as a substitute as Wenger preferred to use Lukas Podolski and Theo Walcott in the wide attacking positions.

Arsenal may well feel that Gervinho is not part of their first team plans next season but they will surely not want to take a huge loss on the player after just two seasons.

Much will therefore depend on the amount that Roma are willing to offer as they continue to be active in the summer transfer window.

The Giallorossi have certainly shown their willingness to spend big this summer, signing Dutch midfielder Kevin Strootman for £14.5m and Mehdi Benatia from Udinese for £11.8m. They have also completed deals for highly-rated Croatian youngster Tin Jedvaj and former Manchester City right-back Maicon.

Roma boss Garcia is clearly keen to make a number of changes to this squad this summer and will hope that his strong relationship with Gervinho will help persuade the Ivory Coast international to leave Arsenal this summer.

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