Dudek, who is under contract with Dutch giants Feyenoord for two more years, met Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and vice-president David Dein after they watched him in yesterday’s 2-2 draw with Utrecht.

He said: ‘‘I always dreamed of playing for a club like Arsenal one day.

‘‘I love Feyenoord and I always will, but going to Arsenal is a step forward in both a sporting and a financial way.’’

Wenger. who says he needs two or three new players to turn Arsenal from Premiership and FA Cup runners-up into winners, has monitored Dudek for some time and it is believed the goalkeeper turned down the chance to come to Highbury earlier this season and understudy Seaman.

Now he is expected to travel to London tomorrow with his agent Jan de Zeeuw to negotiate a five-year deal.

An Arsenal spokesman said: ‘‘Our policy is never to comment on transfer speculation.’’

But it now seems clear that Wenger has decided to present Seaman, 37, with solid competition even though the pony-tailed England star has agreed a new one-year contract and says: ‘‘I’ll see what happens next season but in my mind now I don’t see why I shouldn’t carry on for a few more years yet.

‘‘At the moment I’m not looking beyond next season with Arsenal and the World Cup with England, but if I have a good year I will review the situation.’’

Feyenoord are resigned to losing Dudek, who joined them in 1996 from Polish club Sokol Tychy and was a hero of the 1999 Dutch title-winning campaign. He replaced Ed de Goey in Rotterdam when the former Holland international joined Chelsea.

Feyenoord coach Bert van Marwijk said: ‘‘I want to keep all my best players, but if that is not possible, than we will have to look for a replacement.’’

Arsenal are believed to still be haggling over the transfer fee as Feyenoord value Dudek nearer to £6million, but the Dutch club’s spokesman Hans Hegelstein said: ‘‘We’ve told Arsenal what we want for Dudek, they’ve said what they want to pay and although we have not yet reached agreement I can’t see any big problem over the fee.’’

Seaman, though, is certain to fight to retain his place after making a successful comeback for both club and country this season following nearly three months out with back and ankle problems.

The initial pressure will fall on his current understudy Alex Manninger, the 24-year-old Austrian international who has failed to make the step up to regular Premiership football despite making a major impact in Arsenal’s 1998 League and Cup double triumph when he brilliantly deputised for Seaman in a 15-match spell that proved crucial to the winning of both trophies.

But Manninger’s chances since then have been comparatively rare and Wenger saw him show familiar failings on Saturday when he gifted Southampton one of their goals in Arsenal’s 3-2 defeat at The Dell.

Seaman was rested for that match but takes centre stage again at Highbury tomorrow night even though former Arsenal stars Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit return with Barcelona for his testimonial match.

With a 20,000-plus crowd expected, Seaman who was signed for £1.3million from Queens Park Rangers in June 1990 should collect around £400,000 before expenses.

Josep Guardiola, the Barcelona midfielder who is believed to have been rejected by Arsenal as a new-signing option because of his high wage-demands, is also likely to figure for the Spanish side tomorrow night along with Brazilian ace Rivaldo and Dutch striker Patrick Kluivert.

But Arsenal are almost certain to be without star strikers Dennis Bergkamp, who damaged a calf muscle at Southampton on Saturday, and Sylvain Wiltord who was not selected at The Dell.

There have been suggestions that the £13million record signing from Bordeaux is now ready to quit Highbury, although sources in France claim he is still looking forward to next season with Arsenal despite unsubstantiated reports that he has clashed with Wenger after being over being frequently late for training.

Wenger said after the defeat at Southampton: ‘‘I need maybe two or three quality signings to give us what we need next season but the highest-priced signings are not always the best ones.’’

He claimed he has no ‘‘special interest’’ in Roma’s Japanese midfielder Hidoshi Nakata who would be available at around £14million but could move for French international striker David Trezeguet who despite brilliant form as a goal-getter for his country, has failed to win a regular place at Juventus this season.

Trezeguet’s struggle in Turin mirrors that of compatriot Thierry Henry who left the Italian club two years ago in a £9 million move and has since scored 48 goals for Arsenal, but Wenger who says he is ready to sign a new two-year deal of his own when he sits down with the Arsenal directors this summer, insisted: ‘‘I am in for nobody yet.

‘‘I would like to settle my own contract first and everything should be sorted out in the break after I speak again with the Arsenal board.’’