Staggering bid for Pogba
> Chelsea ready to pay RM482m for Juve star
CHELSEA are ready to smash the British transfer record and pay up to £72million (RM482.37m) to land Paul Pogba after owner Roman Abramovich gave the go-ahead for a second bid this week.
Chelsea have had an opening offer of around £55m (RM368.48m) rejected by Juventus. Abramovich had indicated he would not be willing to pay more than £60m (RM401.98m) for the 22year-old France midfielder, but manager Jose Mourinho is so keen to have Pogba in his line-up that Chelsea will
now make one final bid during this transfer window to break the Italian club’s resolve.
It is likely to be a cash offer with Chelsea, who have already lent Colombian winger Juan Cuadrado to Juve in a deal finalised yesterday, reluctant to let any more squad players go.
It is also an offer which will not affect Chelsea’s bid to sign Everton defender John Stones, which is set to near the £40m (RM267.99m) mark in the next few days when they make a fourth bid for the England player.
But if Juve refuse to lower their asking price or compromise, Chelsea plan to try to work on a deal for next summer even though they are expected to face competition from Barcelona, whose transfer ban will have ended.
Chelsea have already splashed out £42m (RM281.38m) on Spain winger Pedro and Ghana fullback Baba Rahman, and Cesar Azpicilueta issued a warning to the Premier League last night that Pedro is going to get even better.
Azpilicueta, who scored the third, said: “I know Pedro’s ambition. He is hungry to help the team and win trophies. The way he started his first game is amazing.
“He will fit into the Premier League. And he will get
better.” – Daily Express
While questions over John Terry’s (caricature) future at Chelsea may be premature, one thing for certain is that the Chelsea defence has not had a good enough start to the season.
On average the Blues are conceding over two goals a game and Sunday’s win at West Brom could easily have been a different story after Terry was dismissed. With question marks also surrounding Gary Cahill and Kurt Zouma still an unpolished jewel, Jose Mourinho looks a little short on central options. Stones could be the £40m answer to those questions.