SPURS IN BID TO HIJACK BLUES’ LLORENTE DEAL
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CHELSEA were today battling with Tottenham to sign Fernando Llorente after Spurs had an offer of about £14million accepted for the Swansea and Spain forward.
Standard Sport understands both Swansea and Llorente were waiting for a counter-offer from Chelsea after their original bid was slightly below that of Tottenham. Chelsea believed they were close to an £11m agreement yesterday morning.
It is thought 32-year-old Llorente favours a move to Chelsea due to the possibility of working under coach Antonio Conte again, having played in his Juventus side between 2013-14.
But Spurs have taken advantage of Chelsea’s cut-price bid to make a move themselves as they aim to add stronger back-up for Harry Kane.
Chelsea are now under pressure to at least match Tottenham’s bid to have a chance of winning the race and sources suggest that their chances of signing him are now just 50-50, 24 hours after they were strong favourites.
Chelsea are bound to act, having already lost out to a rival this week, with Liverpool set to complete the £40m purchase of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Llorente has been earmarked as one of Conte’s top targets all summer. The Italian, who also tried to secure a loan deal for him in January, wants him to act as support and competition for first-choice Alvaro Morata.
Conte had asked the club to finalise the transfer at the start of the close season and was frustrated when it did not happen. It did not help matters that Llorente broke his arm last month, meaning he missed the start of the season, but Conte will be furious if Chelsea are beaten to the punch.
Michy Batshuayi has struggled to impress at the start of the campaign and Conte felt he had convinced the board of the importance of Llorente joining the club. Batshuayi, who joined from Marseille for £33.1m last year, has also been linked with a loan move to Everton.
The two London rivals could also be going head-to-head over Everton midfielder Ross Barkley today.
Chelsea have already had a £25m bid turned down but are expected to increase that by another £5m for the England midfielder.
Tottenham have also had Barkley high on their list since last winter but were waiting today to establish Everton’s final position on the player before deciding whether or not to bid. Earlier this week, there were concerns at the club about making an offer for a player who will be sidelined with a hamstring injury for at least two more months.
Chelsea’s move, though, has put Spurs under pressure to respond