West Brom sign Arsenal stalwart Kieran Gibbs and close in on loan deal for Grzegorz Krychowiak

West Bromwich Albion are stepping up their transfer activity as the clock ticks down towards the end of the summer window, with the club confirming the addition of Arsenal stalwart Kieran Gibbs amid surprising reports that they are also close to signing Grzegorz Krychowiak from Paris Saint-Germain.

The arrival of Gibbs was announced on Wednesday morning (30 August), with the left-back, who spent a total of 13 years at Arsenal but had entered the final 12 months of his contract, putting pen to paper on a four-year deal and taking the number three shirt at The Hawthorns. While the fee is officially undisclosed, it has been widely touted to be around the £7m ($9m) mark.

"Firstly I would like to say how delighted I am to sign for WBA," Gibbs tweeted. "It has been an amazing journey to play for my childhood club since I was 14.

"I would like to thank Arsene Wenger for giving me the chance to start my career and fulfil a dream.

"Thank you to all the fans, the Arsenal staff and especially my teammates who have been there during the special moments and have helped me through some tough times.

"Now it's time for the next chapter with West Bromwich Albion and I can't wait to get started with the boys. Up the Baggies"

Marco Silva's Watford had looked the most likely next destination for Gibbs as he seeks to play more regularly and win back his place in the senior England squad in the run-up to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, although it was reported yesterday that a potential deal had collapsed due to a failure to agree personal terms.

The 27-year-old academy graduate made only eight Premier League starts under Wenger in 2016-17 as he largely played second fiddle to Nacho Monreal and missed the FA Cup final victory over Chelsea due to illness. Gibbs featured 230 times in total for Arsenal, winning three FA Cups and two Community Shields.

West Brom have made six additions to their squad during the current window to date, with Gibbs joined in the West Midlands by Oliver Burke, Jay Rodriguez, Gareth Barry, Ahmed Hegazy and Yuning Zhang. The latter was immediately dispatched to Werder Bremen on a two-year loan.

Tony Pulis' business does not look set to end there, either, with The Mail reporting that defensive midfielder Krychowiak has undergone a medical after agreeing to join the Baggies on loan for the rest of the season.

Such a deal will be seen as quite the coup for West Brom given how highly he was rated by several heavyweight clubs around Europe before completing a £34m move from Sevilla to PSG last summer. His career stalled somewhat in Paris, where the Polish international was afforded only seven Ligue 1 starts by Unai Emery.

Krychowiak's latest social media message - in which he triumphantly declares that he is "back in the game" - may hint that a move to West Brom is now complete.

Pulis is also believed to be interested in Fenerbahce midfielder Josef De Souza and could yet need to source a late replacement for influential captain Jonny Evans, who is being pursued by Manchester City.