proprietor faces spending £100million on a single participant once more this summer season due to rivals and . Chelsea spent a British switch document £107m to land within the January switch window, surpassing the £100m paid to land in 2021.
The Blues are set to nominate Mauricio Pochettino as their new supervisor imminently. And the Argentine is assumed to view enhancing the midfield as a precedence with Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and loanee Denis Zakaria all poised to go away this summer season.
There are three high-profile Premier League midfielders on Chelsea's shortlist, per , with West Ham's Declan Rice - valued at £120m - the costliest. Brighton duo Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo are additionally extremely rated by the Stamford Bridge recruitment division.
However it's talked about that Arsenal and Manchester United are the main contenders to signal Hammers captain Rice. The Gunners have made him the England common their high goal as they give the impression of being to construct on a robust 2022-23 season underneath Mikel Arteta by which they've battled Metropolis for the title.
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Likewise, Liverpool are pushing laborious to signal World Cup winner Mac Allister from Brighton. The 24-year-old Argentina worldwide may price a minimum of £70m however is a minimum of less expensive than Jude Bellingham, whom the Reds walked away from final month attributable to an anticipated £130m price ticket.
That would depart solely Caicedo for Chelsea except they reassess their shortlist or hijack both of their rivals' strikes. After all, the Ecuadorian can be a fantastic long-term alternative for the ageing N'Golo Kante, who ought to get a brand new contract within the coming weeks however is 32 and has develop into prone to accidents.
However reported that again in January, Brighton had been demanding £100m for the box-to-box Caicedo. Arsenal had bids of £60m and £70m rejected for him within the winter window after already signing Leandro Trossard from the Seagulls for £27m in the identical month.
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Roberto De Zerbi has acknowledged that Brighton could also be extra open to promoting Caicedo this summer season. He mentioned: "After all, we'll lose some gamers - perhaps Caicedo, perhaps Mac Allister. We've to be prepared to usher in one other good gamers."
But they're powerful negotiators with proprietor and chairman Tony Bloom refusing to promote in-demand skills on a budget. Chelsea needed to pay £62m to signal Marc Cucurella final summer season, whereas Ben White price Arsenal £50m a yr earlier. Caicedo, then, is not going to come very cheaply.
And if Pochettino needs one other top-level midfield choice to play alongside Fernandez, Chelsea could also be compelled to fork out one other large price. However that is provided that Arsenal and Liverpool can get offers over the road for Rice and Mac Allister first - earlier than Boehly and co can intervene.