Chelsea Close In On Arsenal’s Star, As Wenger’s Hands Are Forced Today
The confidence in the Chelsea camp has continued to grow that before the transfer window shuts, they would land their target.
Despite Arsenal making a huge £180,000-a-week offer that would place the Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, among their highest-ever wage earners, the England midfielder has not yet agreed to commit his future to the club.
Manager Arsene Wenger has also told Oxlade-Chamberlain that he has a “responsibility” to Arsenal after being nurtured by the club since joining from Southampton at the age of 17 and said that he was now ready to become one of the main pillars of the team.
Arsenal, though fear that he will turn down the latest offer after already telling Wenger that he will not sign a new deal and, as reported by Telegraph Sport, Chelsea have launched a £35 million bid, and this would definitely force the hands of Wenger.
Oxlade-Chamberlain met with Wenger on Thursday and was offered the chance to more than double his wages to a package worth around £180,000 a week. With Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil also prevaricating on even bigger offers, that would place him behind only Alexandre Lacazette on Arsenal’s current wage structure.
Arsenal will clearly feel that this is a very competitive offer given Oxlade-Chamberlain has scored nine goals in his 130 Premier League appearances and only really forced his way into the starting team over the past year, but the chance to play in the Champions League is one no player would pass off.
If Oxlade-Chamberlain does not sign, Wenger and Arsenal could effectively be faced with the choice of selling him to Chelsea now or watching him move to Stamford Bridge on a free transfer next summer.
Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte is personally pushing the club’s bid to sign Oxlade-Chamberlain, who can play at wing-back, in central midfield or on the wing. That versatility, along with Oxlade-Chamberlain’s home-grown status, is particularly appealing to the Italian.
Wenger, while fighting to keep his midfielder said, “I want him to stay and be one of the big players of the future of this club.”
“He is one of the players this team has to be built around. I want him to commit to the club and to be one of the carrier of the values of our team.”
“I think we invested a lot of time, confidence and money on players like Alex, who we bought at a young age.”
“For me, they have a responsibility for the future of this club because Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be one of the big English players in the coming years. I personally am highly determined to keep him here.”
Wenger refused to say whether Chelsea have yet made a formal bid but did not deny their interest. Chelsea want to complete a £100m treble before the transfer window shuts by signing Oxlade-Chamberlain, Danny Drinkwater from Leicester City and Everton’s Ross Barkley.
Wenger also conceded defeat on Thursday in his attempt to sign Thomas Lemar from Monaco but refused to rule out the departure of centre-back Shkodran Mustafi over the next week.
When asked if he expects to sell Mustafi, Wenger said, “It’s difficult for me to speak about any individual cases because we are now in the final seven days of the transfer market. It’s always very difficult to predict what will happen there.”
“You have to make quick and sharp decisions, and you cannot plan that and come out in the press conference with how you will respond to any solicitation.”
He was more definitive, though, on Lemar. “It’s dead because Monaco has closed the door.”
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