On January 8th, Sky Sports announced that Nicolo Barella and Leandro Paredes were close to joining Chelsea.
It seemed at least a step ahead of where things actually were, given the reporting in Italy and Russia at the time, and perhaps a punt.
Now Paredes is thought to genuinely be close to signing for PSG, and, unless anything dramatic happens, Barella will continued at Cagliari for the rest of the season at least.
There’s expected to be widespread interest in the Italian ahead of and during the next market, with Inter Milan trying to find a way they can navigate FFP and put together an offer Cagliari won’t laugh off.
But, despite earlier claims suggesting otherwise, Gazzetta dello Sport think Barella would look kindly towards the Premier League, which presents Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal as options.
Rather than being tempted to sign for Napoli this month, it’s claimed Barella has been ‘much more enticed’ by Chelsea, with Maurizio Sarri and Gianfranco Zola both backing the signing.This one may have to wait for the summer.
