Chelsea are growing increasingly confident of landing Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as Arsene Wenger reluctantly opens up to his £35m departure, reports London Evening Standard.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has entered the final 12 months of his existing Arsenal deal and there has been no new deal forthcoming for the England international.
The former Southampton academy graduate has arguably been one of Arsenal’s best players in 2017 but Wenger is reportedly now becoming more and more open to his departure as Chelsea are prepared to pay up to £35m to land him.
Antonio Conte has demanded more signings from his board after Chelsea were stunned at home by Burnley on Saturday and the reigning Premier League champions have been given huge encouragement in their latest round of talks with their London rivals.
Oxlade-Chamberlain is currently the highest rated player in the Premier League after gameweek 1 (9.23). He completed the most dribbles (8) over the first weekend of matches and would provide Conte with competition in at least four different positions.
