Chelsea has reportedly turned a bid in excess of £50 million from Barcelona for Brazilian winger Willian.
The Daily Mail claims that the player’s agent and representatives have been in Barcelona amid speculation about his future at Stamford Bridge.
The Catalan side is hoping to add to their attack this summer and see Willian as a valuable transfer target.
The player has been heavily linked with a move away from Chelsea after falling out of favour during the second half of last season.
Chelsea has been braced for interest in the Brazilian, with Manchester United reportedly considering a summer move.
Ex-Blues boss Jose Mourinho has never failed to hide his admiration for the player and is expected to try and lure him to Old Trafford.
The report claims that United could outbid Barcelona with a higher fee, but that leaves Chelsea with the prospect of selling yet another first-team player to a direct domestic rival.
With Willian due to turn 30 in the coming months, the Blues could consider a summer sale with the amount of money being offered.
Chelsea set to fight off competition from Arsenal and Juventus to sign Golovin
Chelsea is set to make Aleksandr Golovin their first signing of the summer, fighting off competition from Arsenal and Juventus, according to reports.
Up until Thursday night, Juventus were seemingly in pole position to sign the Russian 22-year-old.
Di Marzio reported that the Italian side initially made an offer of €17m plus bonuses, then up this offer to €19m plus bonuses with a 10% sell on fee. CSKA refused to budge though, insisting that Golovin is worth closer to €30m.
Then, Fabrizio Romano revealed that Chelsea had started talks for the player and that Juventus were reluctant to make another bid. Suddenly, the whole picture started to change.
Goal’s Nizaar Kinsella tweeted that ‘Golovin will be Chelsea’s first signing of the summer’. He added that Juventus were ‘stunned’ by the London club stealing a march on them.
The Blues reportedly impressed CSKA by coming in quickly and offering much closer to the €30m asking price, after weeks of talks with Juventus.
Last week, the Russian media brought Arsenal back into the race for the player. Sport-Express wrote that Arsenal had ‘again joined the fight’ for Golovin.
Their sources claimed scouts from the club gave Unai Emery all the information on the player, and the new head coach than ‘gave the go-ahead for the transfer’.
Unless Arsenal is willing to match Chelsea’s enthusiasm for the deal though, it’s not looking likely the Russian will end up at the Emirates this summer.