Chelsea ‘expressed interest’ in signing – Club identify player as ‘man to sacrifice’, they only want cash

Chelsea ‘challenge’ Paris Saint-Germain in the race to sign Milan Škriniar, according to Calciomercato.

In need to strengthen their defence, the first name on the Blues’ list is apparently Matthijs de Ligt. The west London club have not been able to meet the €125m fee demanded by Juventus for the Dutchman.

Due to this, Chelsea have turned their attention towards Škriniar, and are ready to compete with PSG for his signature.

Inter Milan chiefs Giuseppe Marotta and Piero Ausilio have made it clear to the Ligue 1 winners they will need €80m, or €70m plus bonuses, for the Slovak international.

The Nerazzurri, who are not willing to offer discounts, will not accept any player as part of the deal. They ‘only want cash’ for the centre-back. It needs to be seen whether PSG will make a new attempt or if Chelsea will make a concrete offer for the 27-year-old.

Inter are in talks with Thomas Tuchel’s side to take Romelu Lukaku on a loan deal. The two clubs have ‘excellent relations’, which helped them close the deal for the striker.

At the beginning of negotiations for Lukaku, the west London club looked at Inter players and this included Škriniar.

That’s according to Sky Italia, who state Chelsea opened separate talks for him as they have ‘expressed their interest’ in the player. Inter have identified Škriniar as the ‘man to be sacrificed’ in order to improve their finances.

PSG’s interest in the player gets a mention and their initial offer of €60m was deemed too low by the San Siro club. Chelsea’s interest in Škriniar is advantageous for the Italian  side.

Meanwhile, Marotta has already confirmed there are several clubs interested in Škriniar.

“On Škriniar, there is interest from several teams, but we have a squad made up of excellent players,” he was quoted as saying by TuttoMercatoWeb.

“Then we will evaluate calmly, we are always in the situation of not wanting to give up any player unless he requests to be transferred. At the same time, however, we must take into account the concept of financial sustainability because today’s football needs great economic and financial balances. The buying and selling of players is an absolutely important tool to make ends meet.”