Premiership update and January transfers: Arsenal, Chelsea

Arsenal will play host to FC Chelsea on Sunday, January 24, 2016 at Emirates Stadium in London in a not-to-be missed battle. Arsenal will be fighting to stay in first place on the England Premier League table, while Chelsea will be desperate for three points to move up from fourteenth place and the imminent danger of relegation. The January 2016 transfer window is still open and will close at 11pm GMT on Monday February 1st.

Arsenal transfers to date are Mohamed Elneny from Basell for an undisclosed fee, and Isaac Hayden recalled from being on loan to Hull City. The Gunners have secured their first signing of the January transfer window by completing a deal for Basel midfielder Mohamed Elneny. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger confirmed after his side's 3-3 draw with FC Liverpool that a deal for Elneny had been completed. Elneny's arrival at Emirates Stadium is confirmed subject to the completion of his physical.

Elneny was on board to help titan club Basel reach the Champions League tournament last season. He has helped Basel win three league titles in a row in Switzerland, and also helped Basel on the road to the Europa League semi-finals during his first season with the side, losing to eventual champions Chelsea. Elneny scored six goals to date in 28 appearances for Basel this campaign. Elneny has been capped 39 times by Egypt, after starting his career in his homeland with El Mokawloon before signing with Basel in 2013. Arsenal have their eye on both Adrien Rabiot and Alvaro Morata.

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal is also a big fan of Rabiot and reportedly United may soon seal the transfer of the young PSG superstar who is available to sign during the 2016 January window. PSG will let him go for £21.4 million. Rabiot is seeking a switch from French Ligue 1 where he competes alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the England Premiership in order to play more first-team football. It remains to be seen whether Arsenal or United are willing to pay the price for the 20 year old.

Rumor has it that the Gunners also plan to sign star striker Alvaro Morata away from Juve. Previously, Wenger tried to sign Morata from Real Madrid in summer 2014, but he opted to move to Juventus in a deal worth £16 million. Zinedine Zidane's Madrid deal for Morata included a buy-back clause in the deal so that Real could re-sign the striker for £26 million. Now Arsenal plan to take advantage of Real Madrid’s transfer ban that prevents them from signing anyone whatsoever, freeing Wenger’s team up to sign him. Morata is no longer the main man at Juve and may be ready to make a move from Serie A.

New Chelsea interim manager Guus Hiddink took over in the hotseat at Stamford Bridge after the sacking of popular Jose Mourinho with the Blues well down the England Premiership table from the top four and qualification for a spot in the 2016-17 Champions League. The Dutchman warned of the dangers of careless recruiting, and not to do anything stupid.

Although Chelsea are in a rather desperate situation in 14th place in the Premiership with fears of relegation, rumor has it that wealthy Russian owner of the club, Roman Abramovich, will be hesitant to release money for transfers in the January window and may wait until the summer and the hiring of Chelsea’s next manager. Fears of relegation may hinder Chelsea’s attempts to bring new top footballers onboard in January. However Chelsea need to hire a striker as long-term thigh injury victim Radamel Falcao is still sidelined with a long term thigh injury, with no return date announced.

Next summer, Chelsea may lose popular winger Eden Hazard to Barca. Titan Spanish La Liga club FC Barcelona boss Luis Enrique wants to bring Hazard to Spain before rivals Real Madrid snag him. Competition for Hazard includes Europe's elite clubs Paris St-Germain, Manchester City, and Manchester United.

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