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Chelsea Closing In On £20m Deal For Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud…But There’s A Catch

by The PA Team
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 11: Olivier Giroud of Arsenal celebrates following his team's 4-3 victory during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium on August 11, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Chelsea’s long search for a striker this month could finally be set to end before Wednesday night’s transfer deadline.

The Blues have been linked with a myriad strikers in January, including the likes of Andy Carroll, Peter Crouch, Ashley Barnes and Islam Slimani, but are closing in on the signing of Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud.

Gianluca Di Marzio had claimed on Tuesday morning that a £15m fee had been agreed between Arsenal and Chelsea for the French international’s services, and while that now looks to have been slightly premature, reports in England are now claiming that a deal to take Giroud across London is very much in the pipeline.

However, BBC Sport’s David Ornstein has added a twist to proceedings, which would serve to heighten the drama if it is not resolved soon. Chelsea are aiming to lower Arsenal’s asking price from the agreed fee in order to cut a better deal for themselves.

Arsenal, understandably, are unhappy that Chelsea are shifting the goalposts in this manner, and have threatened to walk away from the deal and offer Giroud to Dortmund as part of the Aubameyang deal.

This would seriously impact Chelsea’s plans to offload Michy Batshuayi, with the Belgian all set to move to Dortmund as Aubameyang’s replacement. It could come down to whoever blinks first, and Chelsea’s desperation to land a striker on Wednesday makes them the more likely to do so.

MARBELLA, SPAIN - JANUARY 08: Auba, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Dortmund gestures during the Friendly match between Borussia Dortmund and SV Zulte Waregem at Estadio Municipal de Marbella on January 08, 2018 in Marbella, Spain. (Photo by TF-Images/TF-Images via Getty Images)

With Aubameyang due to complete a medical at Arsenal on Wednesday morning, it could be a case of everything for the transfer to proceed being complete except for that all-important signature. Should Giroud agree to move to the Bundesliga ahead of his previously preferred choice of Stamford Bridge, however, then Chelsea face being completly frozen out of the deal.

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Author: The PA Team

This article was written by a member of The PA Team.

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