- Arsenal may now be unable to sell Olivier Giroud to Chelsea
- Reports claim the Blues withdrew their offer for the Gunners striker
- Arsenal failed to meet Chelsea’s deadline due to working on the Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang deal
- READ MORE: Real Madrid president prepares £88m bid to seal last-minute transfer of Arsenal target
Arsenal may no longer be able to sell Olivier Giroud to Chelsea this month due to missing the Blues’ deadline to complete the deal, according to reports.
The France international had been looked at by Chelsea, but they have since withdrawn their interest due to Arsenal being too busy working on the Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang deal, according to L’Equipe, as translated by the Metro.
This could end up being bad news for the Gunners in their pursuit of Aubameyang, which David Ornsten has stated rests on Borussia Dortmund being able to replace their departing forward.
The Gabon international has been a hugely important part of this Dortmund side since he joined and is not a player any team would want to lose in the middle of the season.
Merry-go-round: Giroud was lined up to replace Aubameyang at Dortmund then got offer from Chelsea & was keen, so Dortmund turned to Batshuayi. But Chelsea baulked at Giroud fee so discussed Batshuayi/Llorente swap with Spurs, which nobody agreed on. Deadlock #AFC #BVB #CFC THFC pic.twitter.com/HA6ymZ6IiN
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) January 29, 2018
Ornstein suggests Michy Batshuayi could be Dortmund’s answer to replacing Aubameyang up front, but that deal would also rest on Chelsea being able to sign a new striker.
If the Giroud deal is off, then it’s not clear if the Blues would be able to bring in the player required for Batshuayi’s exit to then trigger Aubameyang’s switch to the Emirates Stadium.
There are bound to be further twists and turns before the end of the transfer window tomorrow night, but this could end up proving a costly error by Arsenal.
The Metro add that Chelsea are looking at signing Tottenham striker Fernando Llorente instead, which could be enough to free up Batshuayi to leave.
On Llorente I’m told Tottenham will only consider selling him for around £25m in this window. He could still become Chelsea’s fall-back plan if they can’t get an agreement for Giroud.
— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) January 30, 2018
Matt Law of the Telegraph, however, has added that Llorente would likely cost £25million, which seems a bit much for a player of his calibre.