The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Gunners face anxious day as raiders circle
Gibbs leaves Emirates with more likely to follow as deadline nears
Arsenal will enter the final day of the transfer window with uncertainty still surrounding a number of their players.
After selling England international Kieran Gibbs to West Brom yesterday, more departures from the Emirates Stadium are expected before today’s 11pm transfer deadline.
Alex and Alexis Sanchez are the most likely to depart, with England international on the brink of a £35 million move to Liverpool and Manchester City expected to continue to test the Gunners’ resolve with Sanchez.
Oxlade-Chamberlain was in a similar position to Sanchez and, after rebuffing the chance to join Premier League champions Chelsea, he went through a medical last night and is understood to be ready to sign a long-term deal with the Anfield club today.
The 24-year-old had started all of Arsenal’s league games this season – the last being a 4-0 defeat by Liverpool on Sunday – but none of those appearances came in his preferred central position.
Sanchez has less than a year to run on his contract and, although manager Arsene Wenger has repeatedly said he will not sell the Chile forward, it is believed City have already had one bid rejected in recent days.
Meanwhile Gibbs, who had slipped down the pecking order, completed a move to West Brom.
The 27-year-old started just eight league games last season and was widely expected to be moved on as Wenger wanted to trim his squad.
Defender Gabriel was sold earlier in the month, while full-backs Carl Jenkinson and Cohen Bramall both moved to Sky Bet Championship side Birmingham on season-long loan deals.
There could still be further movement as both Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez have also been linked with other clubs.
Chelsea target Danny Drinkwater was last night reported to have submitted a transfer request to Leicester.
The midfielder signed a new contract to commit his future to the Foxes until 2021, but having acted could yet force a departure before the transfer window closes tonight.
West Brom have agreed a deal to sign Grzegorz Krychowiak on a season-long loan from Paris St-Germain.
Krychowiak will join the Baggies subject to international clearance and become the club’s seventh signing of the summer.
He follows Kieran Gibbs, whose permanent transfer was announced earlier in the day, to the Hawthorns as well as Fifer Oliver Burke, Gareth Barry, Ahmed Hegazi, Jay Rodriguez and Yuning Zhang. Zhang has since moved to Werder Bremen on loan.
Southampton midfielder Jordy Clasie has joined Club Brugge on loan for the rest of the season.
Clasie moved to Southampton from Feyenoord in July 2015 but had not made an appearance under new manager Mauricio Pellegrino this term.