Arsenal are now in pole position to sign Jonny Evans as well as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for a combined £75 million after Manchester City cooled their interest in the West Bromwich Albion defender and negotiations advanced yesterday with Borussia Dortmund.

Evans had preferred a move to Manchester City but, with the Premier League leaders now reviving their interest in Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte, Arsenal are attempting to reach agreement on a fee of around £20m.

West Brom have their own incentive to quickly complete the deal so that they have the funds to strengthen, with Alan Pardew keen to add attacking players this month and interested in Watford’s Troy Deeney.

A delegation of chief executive Ivan Gazidis, head of recruitment Sven Mislintat and lawyer Huss Fahmy are also in Germany attempting to finalise a potential club record deal for Aubameyang. An initial £44m bid was rejected but Arsenal have now indicated that they are prepared to increase their offer to around £50m, although Dortmund still value Aubameyang closer to £60m.

Loaning France striker Olivier Giroud to Dortmund is also being discussed and, with the German club keen to get an immediate replacement as well as a big transfer fee, there is confidence that a compromise will be found.