Chelsea’s chances of signing Niklas Sule from Bayern Munich may have been handed a major boost as talks over a new deal at the German club continue to stall.
That’s according to Sport 1’s chief reporter Florian Plettenberg, who says the player has ‘got requests’ from England.
Sule is out of contract in Bavaria next summer and so far hasn’t signed a new deal with the club, despite their efforts to reach an agreement.
That has naturally led to worries at the German club that they are about to lose their defender, who has been a star under Julian Nagelsmann so far.
Chelsea have long been credited with an interest in the German centre-back, who coach Thomas Tuchel is thought to be a big fan of.
That move never happened, and they may be wise to turn back to Sule instead, with Sport 1 reporting that a free transfer is ‘likely’ at this moment in time.
They explain that Sule is not currently convinced that everyone at the club is ‘interested in a long-term cooperation’, and that has led to doubts about his future.
A big issue is the money he wants, with the defender eyeing a contract above €10m euros gross per year, and it uncertain whether Bayern are willing to pay such an amount.
❗️News #Süle: Right now it’s possible that he will leave #FCBayern next summer as a free agent. Talks are going very slowly. Despite of his good performances some bosses hesitate. He has got requests from 🏴. He wants to earn more than €10m/year. JN wants him to extend. @SPORT1
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) October 5, 2021
In the meantime, there are ‘plenty of interested parties’ in the defender, who has been ‘remarkable’ this season and would be available on a free.
Indeed, ‘many top clubs’ from England hae asked again in the past few weeks and, while it’s not specifically stated Chelsea are one of them, it would be surprising if they weren’t.
They still want a centre-back and could save themselves a fortune by opting for Sule instead of Koundé, who Sevilla are not going to let go cheaply at any point.
That’s just speculation from us at this point, but it appears the opportunity is very much there, with contract talks between Sule and Bayern clearly not going how the latter would have hoped.