Chelsea are close to securing a transfer move from Zenit St Petersburg according to reports from England. Paredes appeared to confirm this news in social media when he retweeted a “Welcome to Chelsea video” on Twitter.
The Argentine midfielder has been linked with a move to the west London club as a replacement for Spanish ace Cesc Fabregas who completed a permanent move to Monaco last week. Chelsea had an initial bid of £26 million rejected by the Russian side but have made a counteroffer for the player.
Sky Sports reporter and transfer guru Dharmesh Sheth has revealed that the transfer deal is as good as finalized. Sheth said in a transfer podcast that Chelsea are currently negotiating with Cagliari and Zenit St Petersburg over Nicolo Barella and Leandro Paredes.
He continued by claiming that the tweet by Leandro Paredes basically means that he has signed for the Blues.
“We’re told they are still in talks with Cagliari and Zenit St Petersburg over Nicolo Barella and Paredes respectively.
There was a tweet or something on social media, it was basically a video that said Paredes welcome to Chelsea – and he liked it or retweeted it. He’s basically signed!”
Another player expected to sign for the club in the coming days is Juventus forward Gonzalo Higuain. Express Sport reports that Higuain was expected to fly on Friday to complete a loan deal ahead of the London derby against Arsenal on Saturday.
The signing of both players would be a statement of intent by the the West London club as they seek to return to the Champions League at the end of the season.