Chelsea have reportedly joined the race to sign Mateo Kovacic, who is also being pursued by Manchester United for a late summer move.
According to a report, Chelsea are showing interest in signing Mateo Kovacic at this late juncture of the summer transfer window.
The Croat, who is also a target for Manchester United, is eager to call it quits at Real Madrid after a frustrating three-year stint at the Bernabeu.
The going has been tough for Mateo Kovacic at Real Madrid since he completed his move from Inter Milan in the summer of 2015.
With Casemiro, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric being three of the best midfielders in the world at the present moment, starts have been a rarity for the Croat.
After failing to progress much in three years in the Spanish capital, Kovacic has iterated his desire to leave Real Madrid this summer.
Unsurprisingly, there has been a lot of forthcoming interest for the player, with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City heavily linked with him.
The Manchester United links do not make much sense, considering Jose Mourinho has a stacked midfield unit at his disposal.
The likes of Marouane Fellaini, Paul Pogba, Andreas Pereira, Fred and Nemanja Matic offer different options to the manager, and it doesn’t look like the Red Devils could do with another midfielder.
Pereira in particular, looks like someone who could fill the void left by the retirement of Michael Carrick in the Manchester United midfield. Chelsea, on the other hand, can certainly improve considerably by landing a midfielder this summer.
The Blues have already signed Jorginho, who will likely be their creative fulcrum in midfield. But, a box-to-box midfielder can complete the midfield unit for Maurizio Sarri, with the likes of Danny Drinkwater and Tiemoue Bakayoko not being impressive enough.
Chelsea were in pursuit of Arturo Vidal, but must turn their attention elsewhere after he joined Barcelona this week.
Kovacic is thus, a viable target for Chelsea. The Croat can not just dictate the flow of the game from a deep lying position in midfield, but he also revels in more advanced position when he can carry the ball forward.
The Blues also have a major advantage over Manchester United, with reports claiming that the Real Madrid man does not want to play for Jose Mourinho.
Chelsea are prepared to lodge a late £54 million bid to sign Kovacic, although it remains to be seen if the offer is good enough, considering his release clause is much higher.
Another obstacle for the Blues is Real Madrid’s reluctance to sell despite his desire to leave. But, Chelsea will have to push on if they are to land Kovacic before next week’s transfer deadline.