Blues in tight race to get the big fish
CHELSEA have kicked off what promises to be one of the busiest final days of a transfer window by agreeing a fee with Arsenal for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and making progress on a deal to send Diego Costa back to Atletico Madrid.
The champions will now work quickly to try to wrap up a £35-million (R588-million) deal for Oxlade-Chamberlain and head off the threat of a rival bid from Liverpool, who have made an increased offer for Thomas Lemar worth more than £64.6-million (R1-billion).
Liverpool want either Lemar or Oxlade-Chamberlain before the transfer window shuts tomorrow night and could try to snatch the England international out of Chelsea’s grasp if Monaco maintain their stance that Lemar is not for sale.
Oxlade-Chamberlain is one of four signings Chelsea want this week, along with midfielders Danny Drinkwater, Ross Barkley and forward Fernando Llorente. They will also attempt to agree a deal for forward Costa to leave.
Fresh talks have been held over Costa between Chelsea and Atletico, and there is a sense that the clubs are close to agreeing a deal that is likely to be worth about £40-million (R672million) plus significant add-ons. Atletico are thought to be open to sending Costa on loan for six months, until he can play for them in January, or putting him on a personal training regime.
Everton are one of the clubs, including Monaco and Marseille, interested in taking Costa on loan but sources close to the 28-year-old doubt whether he would want to play in England again.
Chelsea would not try to block Costa joining Everton on loan, as he would not have to face them before January and, in theory, he could do damage to some of their Premier League title rivals.
Having agreed a fee with Arsenal, Chelsea will now open talks with Oxlade-Chamberlain over personal terms, while hoping that Liverpool do not match their bid.
Oxlade-Chamberlain will be granted special leave from England duty while he decides his future and could miss the World Cup qualifier against Malta.
The 24-year-old, who turned down a new Arsenal contract last week but played in the defeat to Liverpool, is part of Gareth Southgate’s England squad and is due to travel to Malta tomorrow – transfer deadline day.
But should talks and a medical drag on, then Oxlade-Chamberlain could be left behind when the rest of the England squad travel.
Southgate accepts that the timing of the deadline means he needs to be flexible and recognises that forcing Oxlade-Chamberlain, or anyone else, to travel to Malta with their club future in the balance would be counter-productive. Having named a bigger than usual 28-man squad, Southgate has plenty of options if he has to let Oxlade-Chamberlain miss the Malta game and there is no guarantee the midfielder would start for England on Friday night in any case.
Chelsea will have hoped to have been given a free run at OxladeChamberlain after learning of Liverpool’s bid for Lemar, but that may not be the case if Monaco refuse to sell.
As revealed exclusively by The Daily Telegraph on Sunday, an initial bid of million (R938-million) for the French international was rejected by Monaco earlier this summer, but Liverpool have returned with the improved bid and are aware that Lemar would like to leave.
Sources in France claimed that offer is now at more than million (over R1-billion), although Monaco have insisted all summer that they will not sell Lemar. They have already rejected offers from Arsenal while Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have also shown interest.
If Lemar does join Liverpool, it — Reuters would be a significant embarrassment for Arsenal in particular, who have shown the greatest interest, with their manager, Arsene Wenger, declaring that any attempt to sign him during this window as “dead”.
Also, however, if there is any indication that Monaco might sell then other clubs, Chelsea in particular, could make counter-offers. Liverpool’s bid, which would smash their transfer record, does not mean that the club are reconsidering whether they should sell Philippe Coutinho, who is desperate to leave, to go to Barcelona. Monaco have lost Tiemoue Bakayoko, Benjamin Mendy and Bernardo Silva already during this window and have now agreed a deal to allow Kylian Mbappe to leave for Paris Saint-Germain.
They have briefed that following the sale of Bakayoko, Lemar would stay, but there is now growing pressure for him to leave also. Liverpool’s bid to sign Lemar could be boosted by Monaco’s interest in striker Divock Origi.
The Ligue 1 champions are one of 11 clubs interested in signing Origi, either on loan or permanently, after Liverpool indicated a willingness to let the Belgian go.
Liverpool have told Origi he could be allowed to leave if the club make signings before the deadline. — The Daily Telegraph