If the January transfer window rumours were anything to go by, Marash Kumbulla was going to be one of the hottest properties on the market this summer.
The Hellas Verona defender was being followed by the vast majority of big clubs around Europe, with many Premier League sides, including Chelsea, taking part.
The Blues seem keen to add another centre-back to their team, and the 20-year-old fits the new look squad Frank Lampard is trying to create at Stamford Bridge.
Local newspaper L’Arena in Italy have an article on their interest in Kumbulla on Thursday, claiming Jorginho is ‘calling’ the youngster to London.
They don’t mean that literally, as they’re just referring to the fact the Italy international used to play for Verona and now is a Chelsea player, but the Premier League club face a big problem: Antonio Conte’s Inter.
The Milan side are seen as the favourites in the race to sign Kumbulla, as they have ‘already found the right arguments to talk with Hellas and also with the player’s representatives’.
There’s a feeling the defender has played his last game for Verona, and ‘each candle on his cake is worth more than a million euros’.
In fact, L’Arena believe Chelsea could offer ‘up to €23m’ for the centre-back, seemingly up front with no counterparts in the deal.
With Inter in pole, it seems Marina Granovskaia and co. will need to be extra convincing if they want to win the sprint for the player, and with nothing else to do these days, there’s plenty of time to come up with the right arguments.
