On top of finding a striker who could find the net more consistently than Timo Werner, Chelsea’s main target was to bring in a new centre-back.
Signing Romelu Lukaku to find the back of the net, the Blues looked around Europe to try and find the defender of their dreams.
Jules Koundé appeared to be top of their list, but a new report from RMC Sport suggests Thomas Tuchel initially wanted someone from his former side, Paris Saint-Germain, above all.
The news, coming from their journalist Loïc Tanzi, explains there was an ‘important interest’ from Chelsea for Marquinhos, as the London side wanted to recreate the partnership with Thiago Silva in the Premier League.
In fact, it’s stated the Blues were ‘ready to make an offer that could have reached €100m’ to get the Brazil international, but ‘neither Paris nor the Brazilian wished to go any further’.
They point out Marquinhos ‘feels very happy in the French capital and the Parisian ambitions on the transfer market only reinforced his desire to continue with Paris Saint-Germain’.
If they were prepared to go that high for the former AS Roma man but not for Koundé, you can see where the respective players were on the club’s wishlist.
