Premier League leaders Arsenal close in on Chelsea midfielder Jorginho

Arsenal are set to sign Chelsea midfielder Jorginho in a £12million deadline-day deal, the PA news agency understands.

The Premier League leaders have had a bid accepted by their London rivals and the Italy midfielder is set to undergo a medical and sign a one-and-a-half-year deal.

Arsenal are keen to bolster their midfield and have turned attention to the 31-year-old having been rebuffed by Brighton in their attempts to sign Moises Caicedo.

Chelsea, for their part, are willing to let the player go as they pursue their own interest in Benfica’s Enzo Fernandez.

The deal also allows the Blues to bring in a fee for a player who would have been out of contract at the end of the season.

Big-spending Chelsea could make Fernandez the most expensive player in British history having made a reported £120m approach for the Argentinian World Cup winner.

The fee would eclipse the £100m Manchester City paid Aston Villa for Jack Grealish in August 2021.

Chelsea, who have already spent more than £450m since the end of last season, have also been linked with a late bid for Caicedo and it remains to be seen if Arsenal’s interest in him is over.

Elsewhere, Tottenham remain cautiously optimistic about finalising a transfer for Sporting Lisbon defender Pedro Porro ahead of the Tuesday night deadline.

Joao Cancelo is poised to join Bayern Munich on loan for the remainder of the season from Manchester City.

The German club would have a £61.5m option to buy the Portugal full-back in the summer.

Newcastle have followed up their signing of Anthony Gordon from Everton by securing Scotland Under-21 full-back Harrison Ashby from West Ham for a reported £3m.

Ashby, 21, has been signed with an eye on the future and manager Eddie Howe told nufc.co.uk: “Harrison is a very talented young player with a lot of potential so we are delighted to sign him and are looking forward to working with him in this exciting new chapter of his career.”

Ashby, who has made seven senior appearances for the Hammers, added: “I can’t get the smile off my face and it’s a proud day for me and my family.”

Midfielder Jonjo Shelvey meanwhile is expected to leave the Magpies to join Nottingham Forest.

Bournemouth have agreed a fee with Dynamo Kiev for defender Ilya Zabarnyi and the 20-year-old is now due to undergo a medical.

Leeds have also signed a player for the future in 18-year-old centre-back Diogo Monteiro from Swiss Super League side Servette FC.

Championship side Norwich have signed 19-year-old Arsenal winger Marquinhos on loan until the end of the season.