The St Johnstone youngster is one of the brightest young talents north of the border, and he is believed to have turned down Celtic and Rangers in order to join up with the Gunners. Hamill trained with Arsenal 's youth teams on numerous occasions last year and they have finally thrashed out a lucrative package to take him on permanently.

Mikel Arteta and Arsenal know they have an opportunity to make Liverpool pay for their slip-ups in recent weeks and reduce the gap at the top of the Premier League table to just five points this weekend.

Arsenal have been encouraged in their long-term pursuit for one of Mikel Arteta’s top transfer targets whom he failed to sign last summer.