Chelsea have identified a certain Robert Lewandowski transfer alternative as the striker's move to Barcelona has moved a huge step closer despite the fresh bid being rejected.
The Polish international has many suitors this summer but his adamancy to complete a permanent move to the Camp Nou this summer has meant that the likes of Thomas Tuchel and offers have been kept at arm's length. Despite Barcelona having their latest offer rejected for the Bayern Munich talisman who is valued at around £43m, there is a strong belief that the Catalan giants will eventually agree upon a fee with the Bundesliga Champions.
The latest economic lever being activated has handed a large proportion of the TV rights to Sixth Street. This in essence has given the La Liga outfit around £177.6m which can be spent on bringing in players in the short-term amid Lewandowski and Raphinha interest. Additionally, though, they have their free-agent signings to register too with Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen both expected to become Barca players imminently. Elsewhere, deals for Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta are expected to be spoken over in the near future but all focus at the moment is solely on the 33-year-old. 90min football have clarified that Chelsea are still keeping a close eye on the player represented by close Roman Abramovich ally Pini Zahavi.
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However, chances of seeing the Polish striker play at Stamford Bridge next season seem near impossible. Therefore, alternatives certainly need to be explored for a side that could even play without an out-and-out Romelu Lukaku replacement next season amid strong rumours to Raheem Sterling and Raphinha respectively.
Although this has been touted around as something manager Tuchel is seriously considering, this isn't stopping links from emerging to top calibre number 9's across the European and world game. The latest to be linked is former Arsenal target and Sassuolo talisman Gianluca Scamacca.
football.london understands that the Italian international was not keen on moving to north London this summer as he would ideally prefer to stay in the Serie A. This doesn't seem a distinct possibility though with Paris Saint-Germain the overwhelming favourites to snap up the signature of the 23-year-old.
“We had no contact with PSG in the last 10 days for this Scamacca deal. Also, I can say that there are no talks with Serie A clubs”. Sassuolo CEO Carnevali said via Fabrizio Romano. “We could have contacts with other clubs from abroad for Scamacca, there’s interest”.
Nevertheless, Chelsea's fresh interest as reported by Simon Phillips has to be taken with a huge pinch of salt with the Parisians already very advanced on securing a deal for the Sassuolo man. Whoever the chosen one is to fill Lukaku's void for next season has a big task on his hands. The Belgian's acrimonious return to Inter Milan has been heavily criticised by many- none more so than former Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock.
“Good riddance, that’s what I say,” the former manager said on talkSPORT. “Same as Pogba at Man United. I think both of them are all about ‘me, me, me’ and not the team or the club.
“They’re the type who score a goal, kiss the badge and then they’ve transferred next week. I don’t miss people like that. I didn’t think he did anything at Man United and I don’t think he’s done anything at Chelsea.
“Yes, Lukaku scored a couple of a good goals, but his teammates will be far better without him. The manager is quite lucky because he hasn’t got to worry about him. I think Tuchel will be quite pleased about it.”
Would you like to see the club move for Gianluca Scamacca or are there other better options out there to be pursued? Leave your thoughts down below in the comments section!
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