Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Football London
Football London
Sport
Jake Stokes

Chelsea already have £44m advantage in race to complete perfect Reece James transfer backup plan

Todd Boehly has been told how to finally sign Inter Milan star Denzel Dumfries with Chelsea in need of a deputy to Reece James. The Cobham graduate suffered a knee injury in the Blues' 2-0 win over AC Milan in the Champions League group stage and is set to be out for eight weeks.

Graham Potter is now without one of the west Londoners' key players in the final fixtures ahead of the World Cup. After failing to sign Dumfries in the summer, Boehly has been left to rue the decision with just Cesar Azpilicueta and Ruben Loftus-Cheek as Chelsea's only viable senior options.

During negotiations of Romelu Lukaku's return to Inter in the summer, the Blues asked the Italian giants to include Dumfries as part of a permanent player-plus-cash swap deal, according to Gazzetta dello Sport. But, a deal failed to materialise and the Belgium international, who is valued at £43.5million by CIES Football Observatory, stayed put.

READ MORE: Kylian Mbappe reveals PSG transfer stance amid Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham links

With Boehly reminded of the club's need for a deputy to James, Gianluca Di Marzio has told Chelsea how to propose a fresh offer which benefits all parties involved. Speaking to wettfreunde regarding Dumfries, Di Marzio said: "He’s doing a good job at Inter - even Wednesday night against Barcelona.

"They don’t want to sell Dumfries but you know the economical situation of Inter is particular because the club is having economical problems and so I think every player at Inter could be sold. But in this moment the owner of Inter and Simone Inzaghi and the managers, they decided not to touch the most important players until the end of the season - Dumfries, [Milan] Skriniar.

"They will try to keep the most important players until the end of the season and at the end of the season with Chelsea they will try to renew the deal of Lukaku," he added. "I don’t know if in Lukaku’s deal, Chelsea will try to ask again for Dumfries, or Skriniar or Lautaro [Martinez].

"It depends on the two situations of the clubs but they will talk again soon because Lukaku wants to stay at Inter and so surely Chelsea and Inter have to talk about Lukaku and probably other players."

With Chelsea unable to bring Dumfries to Stamford Bridge until January at the very earliest, Potter will have to make do with what he's already got, whether it continues to be Azpilicueta and Loftus-Cheek or a player from the development squad.

READ NEXT:

Todd Boehly has plan to complete controversial £86m Arsenal transfer as Chelsea prepare contract

Kepa Arrizabalaga fulfils transfer hope and answers Luis Enrique Chelsea call before World Cup

Chelsea must resolve their own Harry Kane transfer blindspot as Reece James mission made clear

Two Chelsea loanees return to Cobham as defender receives 'best' compliment

Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: All the latest news, rumours and gossip from Stamford Bridge

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.