Recent reports from Spain may have made it sound like Chelsea were well positioned to sign Ivan Fresneda from Real Valladolid, but that’s not something we see in the Portuguese media today.
Newspaper Record features a page-long story about the fullback, claiming Sporting have now taken the lead for the signing.
The outlet is very specific when speaking about the competition for the player, claiming that even though Chelsea and Barcelona had ‘promised’ to make the Lions’ task a lot harder, they have now been left behind.
Regarding the Blues, it’s said that despite the strong rumours from Spain about being an ‘almost certain destination’ for Fresneda, they haven’t even made their official bid yet.
Record writes that Chelsea are actually ‘out of the race’ because they don’t have an ‘immediate need’ to reinforce the position, and would sign the Spaniard to loan him out.With Sporting believed to be ahead of the competition, they already made their concrete offer and stand in advanced negotiations with Valladolid.
In fact, there’s even a big expectation the clubs can find a deal for his move to Lisbon.
