Chelsea have slapped a £2 million-plus loan fee on Arsenal target Demba Ba.
The London rivals are in talks about the Senegal striker moving to the Emirates Stadium for the rest of the season on loan, having made an initial enquiry on Sunday.
Arsenal have earmarked a medical at their London Colney training headquarters on Monday evening if a deal can be closed.
The transfer is likely to hinge upon the Gunners' willingness to pay the loan fee that Chelsea are demanding for a player who has found himself out of favour under new manager Jose Mourinho.However, Roma have cooled their interest in Ba and have now made a move for Juventus striker Fabio Quagliarella. Sources have told Goal that Roma sporting director Walter Sabatini has flown to Serie A's headquarters in Milan for talks about capturing the 30-year-old before Monday's transfer deadline.
This could give Arsenal a free run at landing Ba, who is their main striker focus in the final hours of the window.
The 28-year-old forward has not even made the bench for Chelsea's last two fixtures, despite being fully fit, and slipped even further down the pecking order when the Blues signed Samuel Eto'o.
With Fernando Torres and Romelu Lukaku also at Stamford Bridge, Ba is unlikely to feature much this season and Chelsea can trim their wage bill by loaning out the forward.
Arsenal had an interest in signing Ba permanently in January when he was at Newcastle but were concerned about his history of knee trouble.
Arsene Wenger wants proven backup for Olivier Giroud, who has begun the season in outstanding form.
The Arsenal manager has failed in a series of bids to land a new forward on a permanent deal this summer and has now adjusted his sights to a loan deal.
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