Chelsea will recommence their season with an away fixture at Aston Villa on Sunday June 21. It won’t be long now, but until we have football matches again, we still have plenty of transfer talk items to cover and analyze.
So let’s take a look at what the Chelsea related rumor mill is talking about in cyberspace on this Sunday. For our Chelsea restarted season preview and best potential starting XI go here. For part one of today’s Chelsea FC transfer talk, go here.
We start with The Guardian, who report that Chelsea are stepping up their interest in Bayer Leverkusen hit man Kai Havertz.
The German international is wanted by several of the biggest clubs, and that means Leverkusen, reportedly, might hold out for as much as €100m (£89m) from the potential suitor. Still Chelsea are looking to add him to the fold alongside Hakim Ziyech, and Timo Werner (once that’s finally made official) in what would truly be a blockbuster summer transfer window.
ESPN, like everybody else, has a story on Chelsea interest in Havertz, and they claim this pursuit means the end of their attempting to sign Jadon Sancho. According to ESPN FC, Chelsea believe that Havertz, despite his high price tag, would still be cheaper than Sancho, who could command up to 120 million pounds.
They also believe the Borussia Dortmund winger will instead sign with Manchester United, meaning Stamford Bridge will now drop out of the running.
The report goes on to further state that Chelsea have also lost interest in Barcelona flop and former Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho. James Olley writes that the southwestern club have “so far proved reluctant to match the £9 million loan fee and £250,000-a-week wage.”
Just one week ago, Chelsea were considered favorites to sign the Brazilian, who is currently on loan with Bayern Munich. So where could Coutinho be headed then? He desires a return to the Premier League, and Newcastle United might make the perfect fit.
According to the Express, Newcastle have started negotiations with his camp, as St. James Park will be looking to splash the cash this summer, as a new big money takeover of the club seems imminent.
Chelsea will no doubt be splashing the cash this summer as well, having totally whiffed in the January window and been banned last summer.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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