Besiktas close in on signing Arsenal's striker Marouane Chamakh

Besiktas coach Samet Aybaba has revealed the club are close to signing Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh.

Chamakh joined Arsenal two years ago, but has struggled to hold down a first team place with competition from the Gunners playing just one outright striker, a position regularly filled by captain Robin van Persie.

The Moroccan forward has been featuring regularly in pre-season without competition from new Emirates Stadium arrivals Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud, but could decide to leave to guarantee regular football.

"There are many players on our list," Aybaba told Bugun.com. "We need to be careful when it comes to transferring players.

"It's obvious that our club has financial problems. We are interested in Tuncay Sanli and Marouane Chamakh. We are close to getting a striker."

Aybaba denied that former Barcelona and Inter Milan player Ricardo Quaresma had been causing too many problems for the club and insisted the troubles are material that will hopefully be resolved quickly.

The coach said: "The problem is merely financial. We hope to reach a conclusion soon."