Wanting another centre-back, Chelsea have turned their attention to Benoit Badiashile, as has been widely covered over the past few days.
L’Equipe take a much closer look at the situation on Wednesday in their paper edition, where it’s made very clear that the Blues are well on their way to signing the young defender.
They explain that following a bid of €35m, AS Monaco are asking for €40m, which shouldn’t be too much trouble for Chelsea.
The belief is that a deal could end up being concluded ‘in the next few days’, as the principality club will need to make some sales, and Badiashile’s contract is up in a year and a half.
L’Equipe point out that Chelsea aren’t the only club interested, with Manchester United and Barcelona also in the mix, but Todd Boehly and co. currently have a head start because they are ‘the only ones to have made a firm offer’.
Not only that, but their sporting project ‘convinces more’ than the one put forward bye the Red Devils, and while the La Liga destination is one the player likes, the Catalan side are trying to get Monaco to wait until the summer.
Knowing they can make more money now from Chelsea, this isn’t something they are fully prepared to do.
Therefore, the Blues are ‘reaching out’ to Badiashile in hope of securing his transfer in the very near future.
