London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal could be on yet another transfer war path

The transfer war between London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal may not have been over yet after the Stamford Bridge side hijacked the Gunners deal for Mykhailo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk.

National Daily gathered the report emanating from Belgium that Everton midfielder Amadou Onana who had attracted Chelsea has already turned down his desire to move to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea who have already spent in excess of £150 million on new signings this month are understood to still be looking to bolster their squad before the end of the January transfer window.

And while Benfica’s Enzo Fernandez has been Chelsea’s top midfield target, the Portuguese club are standing firm and demanding that the Argentine’s €120m (£105.6m) release clause must be met.

Sequel to Benfica’s stance, the Blues are be believed to be exploring alternative options which brought Onana on their shortlist having impressed at Everton following his arrival from Lille last summer National Daily learnt.

However, Chelsea are believed to be confident that they can agree a deal with Everton for Onana according to the claim by Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, but the 21-year-old has now reported to have rejected a switch to Stamford Bridge with his focus revealed to be on helping to keep Everton in the Premier League this season.

Meanwhile, the report further claims that with Chelsea attempting to change Onana’s mind, a move to rivals Arsenal could be more realistic this month for Onana.

It is believed that a move for Onana to the Emirates is more realistic than to Stamford Bridge

Everton are aiming to keep their squad together to fend off relegation this season but are open to selling players in order to ease their financial concerns.

It’s understood that Everton are demanding £50m for Onana, who was for £33m just five months ago.

Arsenal, meanwhile, are desperate to sign a midfielder before the window closes following Mohamed Elneny’s injury which could rule him out for the remainder of the campaign.

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Speaking on Wednesday, Mikel Arteta conceded that he is short of options in central midfield ahead of the second half of the season.

‘We need more cover in midfield ideally if we can but obviously in this market it is pretty complicated to do that,’ Arteta said.

‘As I always say the most important thing is that we get the performances and the time on the pitch today with the players that we have that are already very good.

‘If there’s anything else available that can make us better we’ll look at it.’