Chelsea have stepped up their interest in Juventus midfielder Federico Bernadeschi, and the midfielder could be used as part of a swap deal for Jorginho.
That’s according to Calciomercato, who report that Chelsea could meet with Juve chief Fabio Paratici in the coming days to discuss a move.
They explain that Chelsea’s interest in Bernadeschi has become ‘more and more insistent’ in the last few hours and Juventus are predicting an incoming bid.
It is now suggested that a meeting between Paratici and Chelsea’s ‘managers’ could take place in ‘the next few days’ and should that happen Jorginho may end up as part of the discussions.
Calciomercato say that Juve boss Maurizio Sarri wants to sign the midfielder, who he has worked with at both Napoli and Chelsea, once again as he looks for a ‘steering wheel’ for his Juventus midfield, particularly if Miralem Pjanic moves to Barcelona.
However, a deal is seen as challenging to finalise given the finances that would be involved.
Juve would have to ‘excessively increase’ their spending to add him to their squad, something that isn’t viable in the current climate.
Therefore they are considering proposing an exchange instead as that would help their budget and lower the overall price of the deal for Jorginho, with Chelsea looking for at least €40m.
That is where Bernadeschi comes into play. He’s struggled to find a place under Sarri this season and including him in the deal as ‘compensation’ would bring the cost down considerably.
Chelsea ‘like’ the midfielder and his ‘candidacy’ has risen considerably in the last few hours, so much so that new contacts are expected between both clubs soon.
An exchange is seen as the ‘easiest way’ to get a deal done, as the Coronavirus crisis has hit finances of clubs around Europe particularly hard.
