• Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, right, another who is down to the final year of his contract, was the subject of a £35 million bid from Chelsea this week but it is being reported in British media the England midfielder will turn down the offer in favour of a move to Liverpool. Carl Recine / Reuters
    Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, right, another who is down to the final year of his contract, was the subject of a £35 million bid from Chelsea this week but it is being reported in British media the England midfielder will turn down the offer in favour of a move to Liverpool. Carl Recine / Reuters
  • Alexis Sanchez, right, has entered the final year of his Arsenal contract and is the subject of a big-money bid from Manchester City while Paris Saint-Germain are also reported to hold an interest in the Chilean striker. Peter Powell / EPA
    Alexis Sanchez, right, has entered the final year of his Arsenal contract and is the subject of a big-money bid from Manchester City while Paris Saint-Germain are also reported to hold an interest in the Chilean striker. Peter Powell / EPA
  • Leicester City's English midfielder Danny Drinkwater, left, has reportedly handed in a transfer request and could be on his way to Chelsea. Adrian Dennis / AFP
    Leicester City's English midfielder Danny Drinkwater, left, has reportedly handed in a transfer request and could be on his way to Chelsea. Adrian Dennis / AFP
  • Hadjuk Split winger Nikola Vlasic, left, in action against Everton in a Europa League qualifier in August. He could soon be a teammate of Ashley Williams, right. Jason Cairnduff / Reuters
    Hadjuk Split winger Nikola Vlasic, left, in action against Everton in a Europa League qualifier in August. He could soon be a teammate of Ashley Williams, right. Jason Cairnduff / Reuters
  • Barcelona are said to be mulling over whether to launch a fourth bid for the Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho, who has handed in a transfer request to try and force his club's hand. Nelson Almeida / AFP
    Barcelona are said to be mulling over whether to launch a fourth bid for the Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho, who has handed in a transfer request to try and force his club's hand. Nelson Almeida / AFP
  • Liverpool's French defender Mamadou Sakho, front, looks to have no future at Anfield and has been the subject of multiple failed bids from Crystal Palace, where he spent the second half of the 2016/17 season on loan. Paul Ellis / AFP
    Liverpool's French defender Mamadou Sakho, front, looks to have no future at Anfield and has been the subject of multiple failed bids from Crystal Palace, where he spent the second half of the 2016/17 season on loan. Paul Ellis / AFP
  • Arsenal tried to negotiate Raheem Sterling, right, as part of the deal that would have seen Alexis Sanchez move to Manchester City but Pep Guardiola's club were said to just want to do a straight cash deal for Sanchez. Mike Hewitt / Getty Images
    Arsenal tried to negotiate Raheem Sterling, right, as part of the deal that would have seen Alexis Sanchez move to Manchester City but Pep Guardiola's club were said to just want to do a straight cash deal for Sanchez. Mike Hewitt / Getty Images
  • Both Manchester City and Leicester City have had bids for centre-back Jonny Evans rejected. Tim Goode / PA Wire
    Both Manchester City and Leicester City have had bids for centre-back Jonny Evans rejected. Tim Goode / PA Wire
  • Paris Saint-Germain right-back Serge Aurier has been linked with a move to Manchester United, Arsenal and, most recently, Tottenham this summer. Benoit Tessier / Reuters
    Paris Saint-Germain right-back Serge Aurier has been linked with a move to Manchester United, Arsenal and, most recently, Tottenham this summer. Benoit Tessier / Reuters
  • Manchester City defender Eliaquim Mangala, top, could find himself on the move if Pep Guardiola can entice Jonny Evans from West Bromwich Albion. Manu Fernandez / AP Photo
    Manchester City defender Eliaquim Mangala, top, could find himself on the move if Pep Guardiola can entice Jonny Evans from West Bromwich Albion. Manu Fernandez / AP Photo
  • Naby Keita will spend the season with RB Leipzig as part of his deal that saw him join Liverpool for £48 million last week. Filip Singer / EPA
    Naby Keita will spend the season with RB Leipzig as part of his deal that saw him join Liverpool for £48 million last week. Filip Singer / EPA
  • Southampton's Virgil van Dijk handed in a transfer request this summer. His club threatened to report Liverpool for what they claimed were illegal approaches for their Dutch defender. Matt Dunham / AP Photo
    Southampton's Virgil van Dijk handed in a transfer request this summer. His club threatened to report Liverpool for what they claimed were illegal approaches for their Dutch defender. Matt Dunham / AP Photo
  • Swansea City's Spanish striker Fernando Llorente is said to be on the radar of Premier League champions Chelsea. Geoff Caddick / AFP
    Swansea City's Spanish striker Fernando Llorente is said to be on the radar of Premier League champions Chelsea. Geoff Caddick / AFP
  • Diego Costa has been told by Chelsea manager Antonio Conte he has no future at the club. The Spaniard believes the London club are pricing him out of a move back to former club Atletico Madrid. Ian Kington / AFP
    Diego Costa has been told by Chelsea manager Antonio Conte he has no future at the club. The Spaniard believes the London club are pricing him out of a move back to former club Atletico Madrid. Ian Kington / AFP
  • It was reported in the British media that Chelsea had a £25 million bid for Everton midfielder Ross Barkley, right, turned down. The England international is also thought to be of interest to Tottenham Hotspur. Paul Ellis / AFP
    It was reported in the British media that Chelsea had a £25 million bid for Everton midfielder Ross Barkley, right, turned down. The England international is also thought to be of interest to Tottenham Hotspur. Paul Ellis / AFP
  • Shkodran Mustafi, left, has yet to feature in any of Arsenal's opening three Premier League games and my be sold to Inter Milan before the transfer window closes on August 31. David Rogers / Getty Images
    Shkodran Mustafi, left, has yet to feature in any of Arsenal's opening three Premier League games and my be sold to Inter Milan before the transfer window closes on August 31. David Rogers / Getty Images
  • Sergio Aguero may find his days at Manchester City numbered, especially if manager Pep Guardiola is successful in his attempt to lure Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal. Peter Powell / EPA
    Sergio Aguero may find his days at Manchester City numbered, especially if manager Pep Guardiola is successful in his attempt to lure Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal. Peter Powell / EPA

Transfer deadline day: Lemar could be Premier League bound and Chelsea chase Drinkwater, Barkley and Llorente with Oxlade-Chamberlain opting for Liverpool switch


Steve Luckings
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Well, we're finally here. For many European countries the transfer window will close on Thursday evening, which sets us up for a frantic final day with plenty of big money moves still to be completed.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain looks set to spurn the advances of Chelsea in favour of a move to Liverpool, Manchester City are likely to test Arsenal's resolve to hold Alexis Sanchez to the final year of his contract one last time and it is hard to imagine Thomas Lemar not joining the mass exodus from Monaco to the Premier League, with Liverpool and Arsenal among his many suitors.

Everton's Ross Barkley is a young man in demand. The 23-year-old Everton midfielder, currently sidelined by injury and yet to feature this season, was the subject of a failed £25 million (Dh109m) bid from Premier League champions Chelsea on Wednesday. Antonio Conte has made it clear to the club's hierarchy he considers his squad too thin to try and retain their title and compete in the Uefa Champions League and may come back with an improved offer, with Everton valuing the England midfielder closer to the £45m they paid for Gylfi Sigurdsson this month. Tottenham Hotspur are also interested in Barkley.

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Danny Drinkwater and Riyad Mahrez, central pivots of Leicester City's charge to the 2016 Premier League title, look set for pastures new, with the former joining the latter in handing in a transfer request. Mahrez has been given permission to leave Algeria's training camp in Sidi Moussa, where he is preparing for a World Cup double-header with Zambia, to "formalise his transfer to his new club'', with Roma leading the chase for the £32m-rated winger.

Serge Aurier is primed to complete the formalities of his £23m move to Tottenham from Paris-Saint Germain after the 24-year old Ivory Coast right-back was granted a work permit by the UK's Home Office. The London club also announced the £8m signing of the 19-year-old Argentinian centre-back Juan Foyth from Estudiantes on a five-year contract.

Expect Manchester City to push one or two deals over the line, with manager Pep Guardiola said to be preparing one final bid for West Bromwich Albion's Northern Ireland centre-back Jonny Evans, having seen several offers rebuffed over the summer. The former Manchester United defender's arrival would almost certainly see Eliaquim Mangala head out on another season-long loan.

Liverpool are battening down the hatches, determined to resist the overtures of Barcelona for star playmaker Philippe Coutinho. Barcelona have already had three bids rejected for the Brazilian midfielder, the latest of which was reported to be worth €125m.

Jurgen Klopp is more amenable to letting defender Mamadou Sakho and striker Divock Origi leave, with the former potentially heading back to Crystal Palace, where the Frenchman enjoyed a successful loan spell last season, if Frank de Boer's side match the Anfield club's £30m valuation of the former PSG captain. It is thought Klopp will not countenance letting Belgian striker Origi join another Premier League club on loan, putting Germany's Wolfsburg in pole position.

One transfer that definitely came way out of left field on Wednesday was West Bromwich Albion pulling off something of a coup to land Grzegorz Krychowiak on a season-long loan from Paris Saint-Germain.

Krychowiak will join Tony Pulis' subject to international clearance and become the club's seventh signing of the summer.

He follows Kieran Gibbs, whose permanent transfer was announced earlier on Wednesday, to The Hawthorns as well as Oliver Burke, Gareth Barry, Ahmed Hegazi, Jay Rodriguez and Yuning Zhang. Zhang has since moved to Werder Bremen on loan.

Krychowiak, a Poland international, has won the Europa League twice with Sevilla and helped PSG lift the Coupe de la Ligue and Coupe de France last season.

"I had a lot of offers from Spain and Italy but this is a very ambitious club," Krychowiak told the club's official website. "There's a good atmosphere here."

If Krychowiak's move came as something as a shock then jaws are almost certain to hit the floor if Swansea City can go one better and pull off a shock move for Bayern Munich's ridiculously talented Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches. Talks are said to be at an advanced stage for Sanches, who has failed to nail down a regular starting berth in his 12 months with the Bundesliga champions.

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Bayern chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said: "We wanted Renato Sanches to join a club where he can consistently play at a high level and where he has a coach who banks on him.

"Renato has to constantly win minutes for a year. That wasn't possible with our squad. He's aware he has to step on the gas now."

Paul Clement, the Swansea manager, worked briefly with the former Benfica player at the Allianz Arena before taking up his post in South Wales, and can no doubt assure Bayern that Sanches will get plenty of game time in the Premier League.

Joining him could be Wilfried Bony, who has been told he has no future at Manchester City. The Ivorian striker, who enjoyed a successful two-year spell at the Liberty Stadium from 2013, scoring 35 goals in 70 appearances, looks set to replace Fernando Llorente, with the giant Spanish striker wanted by his former Juventus manager Conte at Chelsea.