Arsenal and Crystal Palace move closer to agreeing Calum Chambers deal

Arsenal are in dialogue with Crystal Palace over the sale of Calum Chambers with both clubs increasingly confident a compromise can be struck over the fee.

Palace had discussed loan and permanent deal options for the England defender but their initial offer, believed to be worth around £16m including add-ons and potential percentage of sell-on fees, fell well under Arsenal’s £25m valuation of the 22-year-old, who spent last season at relegated Middlesbrough. Frank de Boer considers Chambers a ball-playing centre-half who can fit into his desired 3-4-3 formation, as the Dutchman attempts to tweak the team’s style.

The Arsenal defender played 24 Premier League games for Boro and was impressive for England’s Under-21s at the summer’s European Championship but, having been made aware his opportunities will be limited at the Emirates Stadium, is happy to move to Palace in search of regular first-team involvement. The former Southampton player had cost the north London club a potential £16m in 2014, the year he gained the first of his three England senior caps.

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Palace, whose only addition to date has been Ruben Loftus-Cheek on a season-long loan from Chelsea, have a deal in place with Ajax for the Dutch defender Jaïro Riedewald but are still ironing out various agent and contractual fees before an announcement. “It’s not 100% done so we have to wait,” said De Boer, whose team take on West Bromwich Albion in their latest pre-season friendly in Hong Kong on Saturday. “Hopefully it is going to be a very short time.”

De Boer hopes to add significantly to his squad before the new campaign, which begins with a visit from Huddersfield Town on 12 August. Interest in the Barcelona goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen has waned but the merits of Sergio Padt at Groningen have been discussed. There should be further reinforcements up front and across the back, and some of the squad could still be moved on in an attempt to trim the wage bill.

“The Premier League is a very tough league and, if you want to be a very solid club, you can’t count on only 12 or 13 first-team players,” said De Boer. “Normally [it has to be] 16 or 17.”