Arsenal's hopes of signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have been given a timely boost.
The Gunners have earmarked the Borussia Dortmund striker as their preferred replacement for Alexis Sanchez .
The Chilean forward joined Manchester United earlier this week with Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving in the opposite direction.
Arsenal have offered £44million for Aubameyang but his club are holding out for £60m.
Dortmund would also consider a swap deal involving French marksman Olivier Giroud.
With less than a week of the transfer window remaining, Arsenal have their work cut out to close the deal.
But Dortmund manager Peter Stoger did not rule out his player's departure.
He said: "I can only say that we would soon like to have a solution to this situation.
"Whatever the outcome of this matter, everyone would agree that whatever brings clarity will help the team."