Arsenal are close to agreeing a one-year contract extension with German defender Per Mertesacker, according to reports.

The German defender has a clause in his contract which gives the Gunners the option to extend Mertesacker’s contract for a further year and he is set to hold talks with the club this month.

The 32-year-old is yet to feature for Arsene Wenger’s side this season following his knee surgery during the pre-season.

However, Mertesacker was named the club captain despite being ruled out for the first half of the 2016-17 campaign.

He has been with the Gunners since 2011 and has managed to make 149 appearances in the Premier League but the defender has now returned to training but is still not ready to return to the first-team squad.