Chelsea keen on Bayern’s Gnabry

CHELSEA are considering a move for Serge Gnabry — as it appears that they will miss out on Raphinha.

The Blues, who are set to add Manchester City pair Raheem Sterling and Nathan Ake to their ranks, have fallen behind Spanish club Barcelona in their pursuit of Leeds’s Brazilian star, as Sportsmail revealed yesterday. As a result, they have made tentative enquiries over Bayern Munich winger Gnabry, whose contract has just one year left to run. A number of other options are also being considered by the Blues, with the clock ticking down to the start of the upcoming season.

No fee has been set for Germany international Gnabry, who failed to make the grade at Arsenal but is now one of Europe’s finest attacking talents. However, it is unlikely that anything less than £45million would tempt the German giants to let him leave. Meanwhile, AC Milan have stepped up their interest in Chelsea’s wantaway winger Hakim Ziyech. Chelsea would like the 29-year-old to leave on a permanent deal, while the Italian side would prefer a loan move. Ziyech wants to depart Stamford Bridge after announcing he was taking ‘full control of his professional future’. Regardless, he is part of manager Thomas Tuchel’s group which is currently in Los Angeles on the first leg of their pre-season tour of the USA. Meanwhile, in Todd Boehly and Mark Walter, Chelsea have the ‘best ownership group in sports,’ according to Stan Kasten, president, chief executive and fellow co-owner of baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers.

‘If I’m a Chelsea fan I feel pretty happy about it. I think this is the best ownership group in sports,’ Kasten told Sportsmail. ‘They are aggressive in making the team better, aggressive in making the stadium better.

‘As long as you are passionate about things in a good direction, you can’t lose and that’s the way I feel about Todd and Mark.’