Arsenal odds to sign Everton ace slashed after reports midfielder is Turkey bound, Tottenham remain favourites in race

Arsenal have their odds to sign Everton midfielder Ross Barkley slashed in the betting markets.

The Gunners odds of signing Barkley dropped from 4/1 to 2/1 – 3/1 at several major bookmakers.

The bookies do however, still have Arsenal’s north London rivals Tottenham as favourites.

The Daily Mail’s Dominic King also recently reported that Barkley is on Arsenal’s radar.

He told BBC 5 Live: “There’s a lot of clubs looking at him [Barkley], for a lot of reasons.

“He’s a young English player, and they’re scarce on the market.

“I would say Tottenham would be favourites at the moment, but I would think a lot of clubs in the top six will be looking at him, Arsenal among them.”

The odds drop coincides with Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny being linked with a move to Galatasaray.

The Express report that the Gunners are in the race for a new midfielder as a replacement for Elneny.

A source close to Galatasaray revealed that they are interested in Elneny but that reports of Cenk Ergun holding talks with Arsenal in London last week are false.

Barkley meanwhile looks set to leave Everton after refusing to sign a new contract deal.

Toffees boss Koeman responded to questions about Barkley by saying: “Yes. Yeah. His personal situation is not so difficult. 

“We made a really good offer to sign a new contract, he declined that contract and told me he’s looking for a new challenge. It’s his decision. 

“I need to respect that and we’ll see what happens, because I heard from the board that there’s not really an offer on the table for Ross.”

Everton want £50 million for the England international [Sun] but he has just 12 months left on his contract.