Mauricio Pochettino has made it no secret that he wants to bolster his Chelsea ranks further before the transfer window closes.
Juventus have reportedly informed Chelsea that they are not willing to ‘budge’ on the terms that they will sell them Dusan Vlahovic this summer. The Serie A side are demanding a player plus cash deal for the Serbian striker involving the Blues’ wantaway star Romelu Lukaku.
Since his appointment as Chelsea manager, Mauricio Pochettino has worked tirelessly to offload players who no longer wanted to be at the club or who would have received limited opportunities this season. However, offloading Lukaku remains an issue.
A move to Inter Milan was previously on the cards until the relationship between the club and player broke down when a deal was being closed in on. Elsewhere, Saudi Arabian interest has not captured the attention of the former Manchester United forward.
Thus, Juve remain one of the last plausible options for Lukaku. Chelsea are hopeful of striking a deal with the Old Lady but would like to acquire the services of Vlahovic in return to bolster their own attacking ranks – given Pochettino’s lack of depth in the No 9 position.
Juventus are willing to entertain such a deal but only if they receive Lukaku and an additional £34million, and TuttoMercatoWeb report that the Italian giants have relayed that stance to the Blues once again recently. They ‘will not budge’ on the stance and are not willing to negotiate any further.
Thus, the ball is in Chelsea’s court to cough up the cash or move on to alternative striker targets and also find a new club that is interested in Lukaku. With the summer transfer window drawing to a close, time is running out on both fronts
