Chelsea, Arsenal, Dortmund in deadlock over Giroud, Aubameyang, Batshuayi deals

With less than 48 hours to go in the January transfer window, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Borussia Dortmund have managed to create a right ol’ mess, which has left all three teams wondering if any of the others will blink first.

Or, if you prefer your analogies in GIF form, here’s one from Twitter that quite accurately describes the situation. Take your pick which of these three doofuses is which team in this situation.

The BBC’s David Ornstein, attuned to the Arsenal beat as usual, breaks down the situation quite succinctly, including the minor detour into Llorente-land from Chelsea once again.

It goes something like this:

1. Arsenal agree deal with & for BVB’s Aubameyang
2. BVB line up Arsenal’s Giroud
3. As Dzeko starts looking unlikely, Chelsea start looking at alternatives, including Giroud
4. Giroud prefers to stay in London, favors Chelsea offer
5. BVB approach Batshuayi; he is keen
6. But Arsenal want too much for Giroud (is this the initial £35m asking price?)
7. Chelsea return to Llorente (loan); Spurs wants to sell instead or swap with Batshuayi
8. Batshuayi rejects Spurs angle because Michy is a good man. Also, he wants to play more not just be backup again.

So where does that leave us?

Michy is okay with the BVB option and they’re okay with selling Aubameyang and gettin Batshuayi instead (unclear if this is a permanent move or just a loan — hopefully the latter, but a sale with a buyback is fine by me as well).

The question now becomes how badly Arsenal want Aubameyang, because in order to do that, they’ll have to let Giroud join Chelsea, which then frees up Batshuayi, which then frees up Aubameyang. (Unless BVB find a different replacement of course, but that doesn’t seem to be a realistic option at the moment.)

Di Marzio claimed that a £15m agreement had been found between Chelsea and Arsenal, but more recent reports disagree.

Tick-tock, Arsenal, tick-tock.

Isn’t transfer season fun?