It’s very rare for journalists to go on a list of claims, especially on Twitter, but that’s exactly what Gilles Favard, a consultant for L’Equipe in France, did on Wednesday afternoon.
Starting it off with a small bombshell aimed at Arsenal fans that Arsène Wenger had placed a £30m bid for Riyad Mahrez, which was rejected, the journalist got the ball rolling nicely.
Half an hour later, Favard came back with another bit of information, claiming the London club had come back with a £35m bid, with no news of the outcome at the time of writing.
If that wasn’t enough, the consultant even got Chelsea involved in his transfer news craze by stating Antonio Conte had enquired about Paris Saint-Germain’s Blaise Matuidi.
“Le Spectre” “Chelsea” se renseigne pour “Matuidi” !!
— GillesFavard (@GillesFavard) August 10, 2016
Despite what the French club have said publicly about their midfielder, there is a feeling that with the arrival of Grzegorz Krychowiak and a penchant for a 4231, Unai Emery might not be planning on using the former Saint-Etienne star all that much.
With Paul Pogba’s departure from Juventus, there have been many rumours regarding the Frenchman and a move to Italy, but a move to Chelsea could also make sense.
Defensively very capable as well as happy to bomb forward when required, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder presents a more mobile option to Nemanja Matic or Cesc Fabregas to play as one of the two in front of N’Golo Kanté in the 4-1-4-1 used by the Italian in his latest friendly.
His willingness to run for days and always give it his all is also something Conte is bound to appreciate.
We’ll let you know if anything else regarding this early ‘enquiry’ comes up.
