Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will continue the Anfield spending spree with a £30million move for Arsenal's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The Kop boss completed a £39million deal for Roma winger Mohamed Salah on Thursday and, has now set his sights on raiding the Emirates for the Gunners' England midfielder.
Oxlade-Chamberlain, 23, has just 12 months left on his contract and has become frustrated at the club’s lack of talks over a new deal — and with not being a regular starter under Arsene Wenger.
Jurgen Klopp is a known admirer and is set for a busy summer as he attempts to build a squad capable of challenging both in the Premier League and in Europe where the Reds are back in the Champions League after a two-year absence.
Arsenal’s wage bill is expected to rise significantly as the club look to strike deals with influential duo Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.
The club will therefore be forced to save money through player sales and it is claimed Olivier Giroud could follow Oxlade-Chamberlain out of the exit door in the coming months.
Arsenal are set for an overhaul of their own and are under pressure to cut their wage bill in the wake of the Premier League's new cost control measures that are coming into force this summer.
The rules say that a club’s wage bill should not be more than £7million more than it was in 2016-17, or £19million more than from the 2012-13 season.
If it does increase beyond that limit, the money can only come from external sources such as player sales, ticketing or commercial money, rather than Premier League central funds.
This means the money will have to be found in player sales this summer, not just of fringe players, but first-team players too.
Olivier Giroud is another who could follow Oxlade-Chamberlain out with Napoli joining Marseille and West Ham monitoring his situation. Jack Wilshere is another who could leave after spending last season on loan at Bournemouth but his wages may prove a stumbling block to a permanent move.
There are plenty of fringe players likely to depart, including Calum Chambers, Wojciech Szczesny, Chuba Akpom, Kieran Gibbs, Lucas Perez and Carl Jenkinson but Hector Bellerin is set to stay with the Gunners telling Barcelona that the Spanish right back is not for sale at any price.
This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club or Red's Fury™ blog.
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