On Thursday, Chelsea owner Todd Boehly arrived in Spain and held talks with Barcelona chiefs Joan Laporta, Mateu Alemany, and Jordi Cryuff.
AS explain ‘operation Chelsea’ was officially inaugurated at the Via Veneto restaurant, during the meeting between the leaders of the two clubs.
Barca are keen to sign César Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso and have an agreement with the duo.
Meanwhile, the Blues ‘want’ Frenkie de Jong, who is also a priority target for Manchester United and their manager, Erik ten Hag. AS state the midfielder’s agent was in Manchester on Thursday.
The Netherlands international’s desire is to stay at the Camp Nou, but he knows the La Liga side don’t trust him.
Although United want him, the west London club’s sporting project could be better as they play in the Champions League. This gives them an ‘advantage’ over United, who will not feature in the Europe’s elite club competition next term.
Over at Sport, they state Chelsea ‘overtook’ the Red Devils in the chase for the ex-Ajax man. There is a possibility of including Azpilicueta and Alonso as part of a deal for De Jong, but Barca prefer to receive €80m cash, and deal for the Spaniards in separate operations.
Memphis Depay and Sergiño Dest are targets for the English club, but their ‘main target’ is De Jong. Boehly’s trip to Barcelona is ‘an unequivocal sign of the strong interest’ of Chelsea to sign the latter, who is Thomas Tuchel’s ‘great objective’ to bolster his side’s midfield.
With Xavi Hernández’s side keen to sign Alonso and Azpilicueta, Sport suggest it could now be viewed that these two operations will depend upon De Jong saying yes to Chelsea, who are ‘serious’ about him.
However, Chelsea would be even ‘less to his liking’ than United, where his former manager, Ten Hag is now at Old Trafford.
De Jong, who is scheduled to return to training on Monday, wants 
to continue at the Camp Nou. This claim from Sport is also echoed by Mundo Deportivo. The latter further add the Dutchman is aware of United’s interest, but ‘knows nothing of Chelsea’.
To sum it up, the midfielder’s desire is to stay at the Catalan club, but he is aware Barca are pushing him out. A move to United can see him reunite with Ten Hag, but they will not offer Champions League football.
This is something Chelsea can offer.
