Inter finally respond to Hakimi possible move to Chelsea, as Blues to sign €65m-rated player ahead of Manchester United
It’s clear Thomas Tuchel isn’t resting on his laurels after guiding Chelsea to Champions League glory, with some exciting targets possibly on their way to Stamford Bridge.
First up, Chelsea face paying €80million to sign Achraf Hakimi, with Inter Milan reportedly not keen on landing any players as part of the deal.
Hakimi is open to joining Chelsea, as we reported last week, but it looks like it could require the west London giants paying big to beat Paris Saint-Germain to this signing.
The Morocco international looks a world class talent, but Chelsea would ideally have liked to offload some squad players before spending big on this new addition to their squad.
The likes of Marcos Alonso, Emerson Palmieri and Mateo Kovacic had been on offer to Inter, but it seems the Serie A giants just want the cash.
Chelsea to sign €65m-rated player ahead of Manchester United
According to reports, Chelsea and Man United have been linked with the signature of West Ham United and England star Declan Rice for many months, and it has been a difficult one but there seems to be a breakthrough for the Blues with the player already making a choice.
Declan Rice has reportedly told his friends that he will rather remain in London to join Chelsea than leave for Manchester United.
Rice has had 128 appearances for the London club since his first-team debut in 2017 and has established himself as one of the club’s most important players in recent seasons.
The impressive performance of the 21-year-old has caught the eyes of several top clubs in the Premier League while he has been favoured with a call to the England national team, with 13 caps already.
West Ham are not sure they will be able to keep the player through the summer transfer window as he is wanted by their London rivals where he had his academy football. He was released from Stamford Bridge at age 16.
Now that he has made his decision between Chelsea and Man United, West Ham could be set to lose their star player as he seems to have unfinished business at Chelsea.
Speaking earlier in the month, Hammers captain Mark Noble appeared to give Chelsea hope of signing team-mate Rice by saying ‘He’s still learning his trade, he’ll get much better with experience. ‘I’m hoping it’s here [at West Ham] but in this game, you never know. I’m sure he’ll be a top, top player and an even better player in years to come.
“As a footballer, you only get one career and it goes by very quick,” Rice told Sky Sports. You want to be successful for club and country. I think it’s an important thing to win trophies. There’s talk of Harry Kane at Spurs and what he should be doing, obviously he can do whatever he wants.
“He’s going to win trophies we all know that. I think that’s something I want to aim for as well. I’m only 21 but to get those highs of your career you need to win stuff and that’s what I want to do.”