Arsenal have triggered a buyout clause in striker Jamie Vardy's contract with English champions Leicester City after making a bid of about £20m, several British media reports said on Friday.
Vardy, who is in England's 23-man squad for the Euro 2016 finals in France that start next week, scored 24 Premier League goals last season as Leicester won the top-flight crown for the first time in their history.
The 29-year-old was chosen as Player of the Year by the Football Writers' Association and was named in the Professional Footballers' Association's team of the year.
Former England forward Gary Lineker, a Leicester fan, has urged Vardy not to leave.
"Stay with the Champions @vardy7 don't join the perennial also-rans," Lineker said on his Twitter account.
Arsenal have not won the league since 2004 and finished second this season, 10 points behind Leicester.
Vardy scored 24 goals in the Foxes' triumphant campaign, forging a brilliant understanding with Riyad Mahrez, who has also been linked with the Gunners in the past.
With Euro 2016 ahead, Vardy's focus has been on England duty in recent weeks but he may now have a major career decision to make before the finals.
The former Halifax and Fleetwood striker has enjoyed a rapid rise to the top of the game and signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract with Leicester only in February as the club rewarded him for driving their title bid.
Leicester were 5,000-1 shots to win the league at the beginning of the campaign but defied those odds to finish an astonishing 10 points clear of second-placed Arsenal.
Vardy was playing for Stocksbridge Park Steels until 2010, and the prospect of joining one of England's biggest club sides could be difficult to turn down, despite Leicester's achievement in the last 10 months and his affection for the club.
According to the Guardian, the fee for Vardy would be around £20m.
Leicester's players gathered at Vardy's home on the night they were confirmed as champions, when Tottenham, who were then their nearest rivals, could only draw with Chelsea.
That was an indication of his central role in the team's success, and to lose their principal forward would be a major blow to Leicester and the club's Thai owners, regardless of the money coming in.
Like Vardy, Lineker was top scorer in the top flight with Leicester before leaving, in his case for Everton in 1985.
