Arsenal close to signing Barcelona’s Alexis Sanchez and Newcastle's Mathieu Debuchy

Posted Wednesday, July 09, 2014 by skysports.com

Alexis Sanchez: Arsenal confident of signing striker

Arsenal could spend around £40million this week on the capture of Barcelona’s Alexis Sanchez and Newcastle’s Mathieu Debuchy, according to Sky sources.

Sky Sports News understands Arsenal are very confident of signing Chile international striker Sanchez for around £30million.

Sanchez had been linked with a move to Liverpool and Juventus but Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger looks set to add the highly-rated Barca man to his striking options.

Full-back Debuchy, meanwhile, is set to join the club for around £10m in the next 48 hours as Wenger fills the void left by the departure of Bacary Sagna to Manchester City.

Debuchy was preferred to Sagna by France boss Didier Deschamps throughout the World Cup. Debuchy, 28, has played 46 appearances for Newcastle, scoring once, since moving to the club from Lille for £5.5m in January 2013.

Barcelona have believed to have bowed to Sanchez's wish to leave and move to London rather than Liverpool, where he could have been used as a makeweight in a potential deal for Luis Suarez.

The signing of Sanchez would present another major move by Arsenal, who smashed their transfer record at the end of last year's summer window to bring in Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid.

A defensive midfielder is also said to be on Wenger's wanted list, with Lars Bender at Bayer Leverkusen reportedly a long-term target.

Arsenal also released several players at the end of their contracts, including striker Nicklas Bendtner.

The Denmark forward has several options, reported to be both from within the Premier League as well as European sides.

Arsenal step up their pre-season schedule in New York at the end of the month ahead of hosting the Emirates Cup and the FA Community Shield against Manchester City at Wembley on August 10.