Abramovich will test the Messi waters as Chelsea offer Werner for a centre-back…
MESSI MEETING
Put that pinch of salt down; grab a handful – Chelsea are going after Lionel Messi.
It was announced on Thursday that Messi is ‘not staying on’ at Barcelona due to ‘financial obstacles’.
He wants to join Manchester City but Pep Guardiola has ruled that out, Paris Saint-Germain have prepared a €40million contract and Sergio Aguero is an angry man.
And Spanish outlet AS (via the Daily Star) now claims that Roman Abramovich has called an ‘urgent meeting’ over the possibility of signing the Barcelona legend. Hmmm.
ROM-RETURN
A man far more likely to be wearing Chelsea blue is Romelu Lukaku.
He’s reportedly agreed a five-year deal to return to Stamford Bridge this summer, according to football.london.
“Sometimes things like this happen in football. Sometimes it’s not meant to be,” Lukaku said when he left Chelsea back in 2014.
“Chelsea are a big club and when I arrived I was 18. I was very ambitious.
“They taught me how to be a professional, a work ethic and a winning mentality. It is a great football club. I wouldn’t say anything bad about that club but I didn’t want to on the bench for 10 years.”
The Blues now need to agree a fee with Inter Milan to secure his services.
The Serie A champions are said to be holding out for more than £100million, while Chelsea believe £100million should be enough. He’s set to earn £212,000-per-week.
KOUNDE BACKBURNER
Poor old Jules Kounde. The Sevilla centre-back appears to have been close to a move to Stamford Bridge for the last couple of weeks.
Kurt Zouma has been offered in part-exchange but doesn’t fancy it and Chelsea are reportedly re-thinking spunking £50million on a centre-back when they’ve got loads of them already.
While the Blues continue their chase of Lukaku, any potential deal for Kounde has been ‘put on the backburner’, according to the Mirror. The Frenchman is not the priority.
F365 says: Gratuitous Kounde could hinder Chelsea title tilt
LIGT UP
Scrap that. Actually Chelsea very much want a new centre-back, just not that one.
They’ve turned their attention to Netherland international Matthijs De Ligt, according to Calcio Mercato.
The report claims that the Blues are willing to pay £50million plus Timo Werner.
That’s because Werner will be a victim of Chelsea’s move for Lukaku, despite them being very different players, playing in different positions.
But Juventus aren’t keen; instead prefer £25million plus midfield metronome Jorginho. Good luck with that.