Hot property: Arsenal have moved quickly for
Chamberlain
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will end the chase
for the teenager rated the most talented in English
football.
Every major Premier League club, including Manchester
City, Liverpool and Newcastle United, have been tracking
Southampton boy wonder Alex Chamberlain.
But the 17-year-old midfielder visited Arsenal's training
ground on Friday, met manager Wenger and will sign a £10million
deal after talks with chief executive Ivan Gatzidis on
Wednesday.
Only a last-minute offer from City could disrupt the move
but Chamberlain, the son of former England winger Mark Chamberlain,
and his advisers will choose the club they believe will best help
the teenager develop.
Arsenal's record in furthering the careers of England's
Theo Walcott - also signed from Southampton as a teenager - and
Welsh star Aaron Ramsey is understood to have convinced
him.
They have yet to finalise a fee with Southampton but
Saints will not stand in Chamberlain's way.
An initial payment of £7m is likely to be followed by
supplementary fees when the England Under-18 international reaches
the first team.
Arsenal may even loan Chamberlain back to Saints for the
rest of the season. He made his League One debut as a substitute
last March at the age of 16 years and 199 days, making him the
secondyoungest player in the club's history, after
Walcott.
A goal on his full Saints debut in the Carling Cup clash
with Bournemouth in August highlighted his potential and he signed
a professional contract at St Mary's that month.
Chamberlain, booked yesterday in Saints' 2-0 defeat at
Tranmere, has impressed the top clubs with his range of passing and
all-round vision.
He also has great pace, inherited from his father, who won
eight England caps while playing for Stoke in the
Eighties.