Chelsea abandon swap deal talks despite Christopher Nkunku injury blow

Chelsea have abandoned swap deal talks with Juventus over a move for Dusan Vlahovic as Mauricio Pochettino is not fully sold on landing the Serbian for the numbers currently being quoted. The Blues have been discussing the prospect of sending Romelu Lukaku to Turin but on top of that, Juve believe Chelsea should also be paying an additional £35m to include Vlahovic within the agreement.

Chelsea have been forced to look at signing further attacking reinforcements after losing Christopher Nkunku to a knee injury.

The Frenchman is set to be sidelined for up to four months after sustaining the problem in Chelsea’s final USA pre-season friendly against Borussia Dortmund in Chicago.

Yet despite extensive talks with Juve, Pochettino isn’t set on landing Vlahovic – a player that has been floated to the Stamford Bridge hierarchy.

Vlahovic was tracked by Arsenal prior to his transfer to Juve in January 2022 but his stock has since plummeted following a difficult time at the Allianz Stadium.

Don’t miss… Transfer news LIVE as Chelsea make Lavia bid and Man Utd plot £52m double raid[LATEST]

Even though Chelsea are desperate to offload Lukaku, the deal is now dead in the water with the Blues set to explore other alternatives.

Lukaku had agreed a three-year contract with Juve but the move is unlikely to materialise unless the Old Lady can find a suitor for Vlahovic.

Chelsea are believed to have offered £21m plus Lukaku for the ex-Fiorentina frontman but that is the highest they were prepared to go.

The Blues paid a whopping £97.5m to sign Lukaku from Inter Milan in the summer of 2021 and now they’re struggling to shift the Belgian.

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

Don’t miss…
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino ‘orders PSG transfer’ after Caicedo deadlock[LATEST]
Chelsea sent new eye-watering request during Dusan Vlahovic swap deal talks[REPORTS]
Barcelona offer wonderkid to PSG with Chelsea’s Kylian Mbappe bid ‘landing soon'[GOSSIP]

Vlahovic has 17 goals in 42 Serie A outings for Juventus but Chelsea have no intention of matching the Italians’ valuation of the Serbia international.

For the time being, they look set to continue focusing their efforts on landing some central midfield reinforcements for Pochettino.

A bid has now been lodged for Romeo Lavia worth £48m and work remains ongoing on a deal for Moises Caicedo.

Yesterday, it was reportedly that the Blues had finally made some progress in talks to sign the Ecuador international.

That’s because Brighton are now reportedly willing to drop their £100m valuation to £90m as Caicedo continues to push for a move.

Pochettino is mindful that he is in desperate need of some midfield reinforcements and the Argentine will also be after some extra firepower in attack after losing Nkunku to injury.

Armando Broja remains in reserve for the Blues but if Nicolas Jackson was to get injured, the landscape could look very different for Poch.

Rather problematically, the market appears to be starved of top quality centre-forwards which is why Chelsea are yet to have any success in their bid to strengthen their attacking roster.

Source: Read Full Article