Chelsea have gone cold on talks over Chicago Fire goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina after coming close to agreeing a £10million deal.
The 18-year-old is waiting to see if the Blues complete a transfer after coming close to agreeing a move to Stamford Bridge before sanctions were imposed on Roman Abramovich which effectively placed Chelsea under a transfer embargo.
After those sanctions were lifted, Chelsea made another move for Slonina under former director Marina Granovskaia, who has since lost influence after the takeover by the Todd Boehly-Clearlake ownership group.
She was advised by two former goalkeepers in Petr Cech and Christophe Lollichon, who have also left Stamford Bridge this summer.
With co-owner Boehly taking over as the interim sporting director, the exciting goalkeeping talent has found that the interest has either waned or that he has fallen down the list of priorities.
Slonina preferred a move to Chelsea but their lack of contact has led other interested parties to try and exploit the situation.
The plan was for Chelsea to sign the United States Under-20 international and loan him back to his Major League Soccer (MLS) club, where he has already played 29 senior matches.
With Chelsea unable or unwilling to complete the deal, a host of other clubs have lined up to hijack their talks, with Real Madrid and Wolves among those known to be interested.
Chelsea’s focus is squarely on signing a marquee attacker, alongside defensive targets to plug the gaps left by Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen’s exits to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar have been offered to Chelsea but the £45m signing of Raheem Sterling from Manchester City has been the focus.
The Blues are also waiting on news from Raphinha’s entourage, who are hoping Barcelona match the £55m offer from Chelsea that has already been accepted by Leeds.
In defence, Manchester City’s Nathan Ake is in advanced talks with Chelsea, with Juventus centre-back Matthijs de Ligt attracting serious interest from both Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
Sevilla's Jules Kounde remains an option for Chelsea but has fallen down their list of targets since Boehly has been conducting the club's transfer business.
