Manchester United potentially swooping and signing Tiemoué Bakayoko from under Chelsea’s noses is a story sure to get a lot of attention, especially after Romelu Lukaku’s switch.
Bakayoko to Chelsea has stalled more than once but it has been expected in France that things are now close to conclusion. The Manchester United claims have been covered, but even Le10 Sport couldn’t dream up their own slant, making sure to credit the English media, and there doesn’t appear to be much behind it.
On July 7th L’Equipe reported that Bakayoko to Chelsea would be sorted out in the ‘coming hours’. At the time we made clear: ‘Now, if you’ve followed our coverage from the European press for long enough, you’ll know that ‘coming hours’ can mean various things.
All we’re saying is, while it looks promising, don’t hold your breath just yet. You might need to wait a little bit longer.’
Hopefully nobody held their breath, because it’s now July 10th and Bakayoko hasn’t arrived. Monday’s edition of L’Equipe suggests things could be very close, because, really, 
they have to be.
Bakayoko would have been due at AS Monaco preseason training today, but he won’t be there, because he’s ‘bound for Chelsea’, say the French newspaper.
Obviously the midfielder can’t simply float around Europe hiding from his preseason commitments, so something will have to happen soon. Either Bakayoko arrives at Chelsea, another club, or he has to return to Monaco with his tail between his legs.
