One of Chelsea’s rivals do not look to be too worried about the Blues stealing one of their targets this summer. helsea have been one of the busier clubs in the transfer market. This week, they signed both Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Leicester City and Marc Guiu from Barcelona.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
It comes after the arrivals of Omari Kellyman and Tosin Adarabioyo from Aston Villa and Fulham respectively.
The Blues have also agreed a deal with Palmeiras to sign Estevao Willian and have been heavily linked with Bologna’s Riccardo Calafiori.
Arsenal closing in on signing
Chelsea’s London rivals have not been as busy as them this summer so far.
However, the Gunners could be about to make a big signing.
According to journalist Ben Jacobs, Arsenal are frontrunners for Calafiori’s signature and are not worried about Chelsea ruining their potential €50m (£42m) deal.
Speaking to GiveMeSport, he said: “Arsenal are frontrunners and it’s likely the fee is somewhere in the region of €50million. It could move relatively quickly as well. Arsenal will be wary because they’ve dealt with Chelsea before with [Mykhailo] Mudryk. They also looked like frontrunners [for him] as they started all the negotiations first, and then Chelsea started a hijack.
“I think the difference, at this point, is that [Mikel] Arteta has apparently been very hands-on, has pitched the project, and the player is relatively sold at this stage on Arsenal. So, if Arsenal choose to proceed and can agree a fee with Bologna, they are relatively confident that they won’t be hijacked by Chelsea.”
Chelsea’s Riccardo Calafiori alternative
Chelsea signing Calafiori now looks unlikely, especially considering that they already looked to have moved on to another player who is similar to the 22-year-old.
It has been claimed that the Blues are set to sign Renato Veiga from Basel.
Like Calafiori, Veiga is a left-footed player who can play at centre-back and left-back.
The Portuguese youngster can also be deployed in midfield, so he is quite a versatile footballer.
Chelsea’s move for Veiga is good news for Arsenal, then. With the 20-year-old heading to Stamford Bridge, the Gunners probably do not have to worry about their rivals hijacking their deal for Calafiori.
Fortunately for Arteta, this is not going to be another Mudryk saga it seems.