Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BLEW IS THE COLOUR
Chelsea in talks with Bayern over unhappy Lewandowski... and Atletico about Costa
CHELSEA have made a stunning move for Bayern Munich’s superstar striker Robert Lewandowski. The Poland goalscorer netted 43 times for the German champions last season, with 30 of those helping them to clinch their fifth consecutive Bundesliga title. But the 28-year-old is unsettled and
criticised his team-mates earlier this month, accusing them of not doing enough to make him Germany’s top scorer. Lewandowski’s agent, Maik Barthel, said: “Robert told me that he got no support and that the coach Carlo Ancelotti gave no call to help him in the last game to win the top-scorer title. He was more disappointed than I have ever seen.” Chelsea are now trying to capitalise and have made a serious enquiry. They are bidding to make changes up front ahead of next season and want two top strikers prior to their Champions League return. Formal talks have also begun with Atletico Madrid, who want to re-sign Diego Costa – even though the striker cannot play for them until January. Atletico are likely to loan out Costa before registering him at the turn of the year. The 28-year-old is keen to have his future sorted out quickly. He is well aware that, if he returns for Chelsea’s pre-season trip to the Far East next month, he will be frozen out by Antonio Conte. The Blues had intended to sell him this summer, but were concerned that Conte’s premature text to dump the marksman would affect his transfer value. They are now trying to agree a fee with Everton for Romelu Lukaku, but do not want to go near the Toffees’ £100m valuation. Chelsea are likely to be as cagey over Lewandowski, who turns 29 in August. But they also retain an interest in Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez, Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata and Torino’s Andrea Belotti.