Here are the Chelsea evening headlines for Monday June 15.
Boost for Blues in Kamara pursuit
Chelsea’s interest in Marseille defender Boubacar Kamara has received a big boost, with his club under pressure to sell and raise funds due to a financial shortfall.
French outlet La Provence reports that Marseille need to raise money to cover their losses due to the early ending of Ligue 1, with Kamara one of their most sellable assets.
A €40million bid is reported to be enough to seal a move for Kamara, who at 20 years of age has been one of the most impressive young defenders in the French top flight this term.
“Plan B” to Chilwell transfer reported
Chelsea’s pursuit of Leicester left-back Ben Chilwell has been well-documented and looks set to be one of the transfer sagas of the summer.
But the Stamford Bridge club aren’t putting all their eggs in that sole basket, if one journalist is to be believed.
Nicolo Schira , somewhat notorious for being prolific with rumours on Twitter, says that Chelsea have a handful of “Plan B” options which include Nicolas Tagliafico of Ajax, Alex Telles of Porto and Layvin Kurzawa of Porto.
While it would be sensible for Chelsea to have alternatives in mind, they do appear set on going all-in for Chilwell, giving them a potential England international right-left duo on either side of defence, with Reece James pushing hard for international honours after some excellent form in 2019/20.
Funds for Havertz raised from squad sales
Chelsea are still keen on Germany international Kai Havertz, but a move for the attacker would be enormously expensive, with Bayer Leverkusen wanting up to £75m for him.
To achieve that target, Frank Lampard will need to offload several players from his squad and the Express report six players could be sold to fund the move.
Out-of-favour full-backs Emerson Palmieri, Davide Zappacosta, wing-back Victor Moses, central midfielders Tiemoue Bakayoko and Danny Drinkwater and striker Michy Batshuayi have all been told they can leave once the transfer window opens.
Removing the players’ wages will be as important as the actual money brought in for their sales, particularly given Chelsea are unlikely to get anywhere near the amounts paid out for Drinkwater (£35m) and Bakayoko (£40m) in particular.
The Blues have already secured a move for Hakim Ziyech and are close to sealing Timo Werner’s transfer, but still want Havertz and Ben Chilwell too.
