Montenegrin defender Stefan Savic claims he is set to sign a pre-contract agreement with Arsenal after a successful trial.

The 19-year-old BSK Borca centre-half has five Under-21 caps and if the deal goes through, his arrival will go some way to softening the blow of missing out on Chris Smalling, who opted to instead join Manchester United.

Savic told Serbian newspaper Blic: "There were offers from Tottenham and Birmingham, but once a call came from Arsenal, I had no more doubts.

"Wenger made sure my papers were arranged for me and my work permit extended so I can be at more training sessions.

"He is the man. He has incredible authority at the club, everyone listens to him, assistants lead training sessions and he just supervises. Nothing can escape him."

Savic added: "A pre-contract will be signed on Thursday and then I will return to Belgrade and join BSK for their preparations.

"I will be staying with BSK until May."