Oxlade-Chamberlain is due to meet Arsene Wenger today, when Chelsea hope he will tell the Arsenal manager that he wants to move to Stamford Bridge. Other than bidding £35 million for Oxlade-Chamberlain, Chelsea are still working towards finding an agreement for Danny Drinkwater, who Leicester City value at £40 million, and are refusing to give up on £25 million Ross Barkley, despite Tottenham Hotspur leading the chase for the Everton midfielder.

Ideally, Chelsea want to complete deals for all three Englishmen before the transfer window closes next Thursday and have not yet given up on left-back Alex Sandro, despite Juventus publicly claiming he will not be sold.

Oxlade-Chamberlain has entered the final 12 months of his Arsenal contract and has already informed Wenger he will not sign a new deal. With Chelsea now stepping up their interest, under the orders of head coach Antonio Conte, it is unlikely the 24-year-old will change his stance, even if Arsenal offer fresh terms worth more than £100,000 a week.

That would make it incredibly tough for Wenger to maintain his stance that Oxlade-Chamberlain will not be sold this month. Wenger could be left with the scenario of either selling Oxlade-Chamberlain to Chelsea now or watching him join for free in 12 months.