Gunners close to winning race for Sanchez
Sanchez is understood to have instructed his representatives to close negotiations with the Gunners after deciding against offers from both Liverpool and Juventus.
Reports in Spain suggest Barcelona have accepted Sanchez’s desire to leave and head to London rather than Anfield, where he could have been used as a makeweight in a potential deal for Luis Suarez.
Debuchy, meanwhile, is set to finalise the formalities of his £10m switch from Newcastle in the coming days, with suggestions a medical has already been completed.
Elsewhere Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is on course to make his fourth signing of the summer with Benfica winger Lazar Markovic likely have a medical later this week.
The 20-year-old Serbian Markovic is set to arrive on Merseyside before the end of the week as the finishing touches are put to a £20m switch.
If there are no last-minute hitches, the signing of Markovic would take the club’s spending since the end of the season close to £60m, with further additions still expected.
Rodgers has already brought in Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Emre Can and England internationals Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana, and the Reds boss is keen to do a deal for the Southampton duo’s team-mate Dejan Lovren, who has effectively said he will not play for the south-coast club again. Liverpool have already had one bid rejected for the Croatia international, whom Saints rate at £25m — way above the Merseysiders’ valuation.
They are also closing in on a deal for Lille’s Belgium World Cup striker Divock Origi, although the 19-year-old could be loaned back to his current club after the completion of a transfer worth up to £10m.
Rodgers is also looking to bolster the left-back slot with interest in Sevilla’s Alberto Moreno not yet dead, despite the Spanish club holding out for £20m after turning down a bid from Liverpool of £16m.
Southampton, meanwhile, have sealed the signing of Serbian playmaker Dusan Tadic from Dutch side FC Twente. The 25-year-old joins the Saints for a reported £8m, and becomes the first player brought in by new manager Ronald Koeman.
Southampton are looking to rebuild the squad following the sales of key men like Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana and Ricky Lambert after Mauricio Pochettino left to take over at Tottenham.
In other transfer news, Leeds owner Massimo Cellino has claimed he was forced into the sale of leading goalscorer Ross McCormack to Fulham because the Scotland international had “disrespected” him.
Fulham completed the deal for an undisclosed fee, understood to be £11m, for the Leeds captain less than a week after Cellino had insisted the striker was not for sale. McCormack, 27, signed a new four-year deal with Leeds last summer, but following a fallout with Cellino did not to travel with Leeds last week to their summer training camp in Italy. He has signed a four-year deal at Leeds’s Championship rivals Fulham.
“I like to be in control of situations but it felt like he wasn’t my player,” Cellino said. “I was disrespected, he was aggressive with me.
“He didn’t turn up for the tour and all the time he wanted to go from here. It wasn’t in my mind to sell McCormack, it wasn’t my plan, but I had no choice. He’s a bloody good player and I’m not going to pretend that he isn’t but he didn’t respect me and it wasn’t possible to keep him.”
Elsewhere Manchester City have announced the signing of goalkeeper Willy Caballero from Malaga on a three-year contract. The 32-year-old Argentinian has moved for an undisclosed fee in a switch that sees him reunited with Manuel Pellegrini.
The pair previously worked together at Malaga after Pellegrini signed Caballero for the Spanish outfit in 2011.
City were looking for a new keeper to provide competition for first-choice stopper Joe Hart following Costel Pantilimon’s move to Sunderland.
West Ham have announced the signing of former Charlton midfielder Diego Poyet after the two clubs agreed a compensation package for the teenager. The 19-year-old, son of Sunderland boss Gus Poyet, was named the Addicks’ player of the year last season but departed at the end of his contract and has now penned an initial four-year deal at Upton Park.
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