Campbell joins Villarreal

London - Arsenal forward Joel Campbell has joined Villarreal on loan for the rest of the season, the Spanish club said on Tuesday.

The Costa Rican's move to Spain is part of a deal in which Arsenal are set to sign Villarreal's Brazilian defender Gabriel Paulista, who has passed a medical in London, British media reported.

"Thanks to the whole family of Arsenal for their messages. I hope to make them proud," Campbell said on Twitter alongside a photograph of him wearing a Villarreal scarf.

Campbell will be hoping to secure first team football at El Submarino Amarillo (The Yellow Submarine) after failing to impress Arsene Wenger at the Emirates, this despite starring at the World Cup in Brazil in 2014.

The 24-year-old Paulista is poised to become Arsenal's second signing of the January transfer window after Polish teenager Krystian Bielik.