Sterling offered to Arsenal as Sancho deal stalls

Chelsea have offered Raheem Sterling to Arsenal as talks continue with Manchester United about a possible switch deal involving Jadon Sancho.
The west London club want to offload Sterling, although there is the possibility that the winger stays at Stamford Bridge if there is no suitable deal.
Arsenal have been looking for a forward who can play across the line and Mikel Arteta, their manager, spoke well of Sterling last week. Arteta’s chief attacking target has been Nico Williams, the Athletic Bilbao winger.
United’s possible deal is dependent on them offloading Sancho, whose preference is to move to Juventus if they can reach an agreement, although that is complicated by his wages of about £300,000 per week. Should they fail to reach a deal, United would not try to take Sterling from Chelsea.
Sancho was on loan at Borussia Dortmund for the second half of last season. United would prefer to sell Sancho but Juventus want to loan the winger and include a clause that gives them the option to buy him at the end of the season.
Arsenal could sign two goalkeepers including the potential arrival of Neto on loan from Bournemouth. Mikel Arteta’s side are also in advanced talks for Neto after failing with a bid for Joan García, who has been valued at £25million by Espanyol. It is not clear if they will increase their offer for García.
Neto, 35, made 32 appearances last season, keeping seven clean sheets, but he is set to lose his starting place after the arrival of Kepa Arrizabalaga on loan from Chelsea. Neto, who has a contract until 2026, was named as the club’s captain by Gary O’Neil, then head coach, in February 2023. He previously played for Valencia, Juventus and Fiorentina. Mark Travers, another Bournemouth goalkeeper, has been linked to Crystal Palace.
Chelsea are continuing their clear-out and have agreed a deal to loan Djordje Petrovic to Strasbourg for the season. The French club are owned by the same owners of Chelsea. Petrovic made 12 league appearances last season when he was favoured over Robert Sánchez by then head coach Mauricio Pochettino.
Nottingham Forest are considering a move for James Ward-Prowse, the midfielder who is available a year after he moved to West Ham United for £30million from Southampton. The east London club are ready to offload him and other players including the defenders Nayef Aguerd and Konstantinos Mavropanos, and Maxwel Cornet, a midfielder.
Ward-Prowse, 29, was signed by David Moyes, the previous manager who wanted to bring in players from the Premier League in contrast to the technical director, Tim Steidten, who sought younger signings from Europe.
Nayef Aguerd has rejected a move to Wolverhampton Wanderer and the centre back has interest fromAl-Ittihad, the Saudi club managed by Laurent Blanc. Cornet is set to join Southampton on a season-long loan.
Ivan Toney is expected to join Al-Ahli after the Brentford forward agreed a three-year deal with the Saudi Pro League club worth about £17million a season.
The west London club have been holding out for about £50million for the England player, having rejected a previous £35million offer from Al-Ahli.
Thomas Frank, the Brentford head coach, has omitted Toney from his squad this season and confirmed that he would not be recalled when they play Southampton on Saturday. “I can say that Ivan will not play on Saturday, I’m very happy to speak about the players that will play on Saturday,” he said. “Ivan is training well, and in good spirits, and I’m happy to answer more questions after the window.”
Frank signed Igor Thiago in the expectation of selling Toney, who has entered the final year of his contract. Clubs in the Saudi Pro League are permitted to buy players from abroad up until Monday September 2.
Al-Ahli finished third in the league last season and are captained by the former Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino. This summer they were unable to persuade Richarlison to move from Tottenham Hotspur but have increased their contract offer to Victor Osimhen, the Napoli forward who is wanted by Chelsea. If Osimhen accepts the move to the Saudi club then it is not clear if they would also sign Toney despite him agreeing a contract with them. If they do not, Toney could move to a different team in the league because all Pro League clubs have access to a central fund.
Toney, who has scored 72 goals in 141 appearances for Brentford, was handed an eight-month ban for betting offences in May 2023, which ruled him out of the first half of last season. He scored four times in 17 appearances at the end of the campaign and played for England at Euro 2024. He has scored 36 goals and claimed 11 assists in 85 appearances in the Premier League.
Brentford’s plans were slightly hit when Thiago underwent knee surgery in July and was ruled out until the new year. However they have Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa, Kevin Schade and Fábio Carvalho, their new signing from Liverpool, who can all play in forward positions.
Billy Gilmour’s proposed move to Napoli has collapsed after Matt O’Riley suffered an ankle injury that will require surgery.
O’Riley, the 23-year-old midfielder, moved to Brighton & Hove Albion from Celtic on Monday but suffered the injury in a tackle less than ten minutes into his debut against Crawley Town in the Carabao Cup second round a day later.
Armando Broja is very likely to stay at Chelsea after a foot injury ended a proposed move to Ipswich Town. The issues showed up when the forward had a medical this week after Ipswich agreed a deal to sign him on an initial loan, with an obligation to buy for £30million if they stay up.