Signing for Juventus last season but returning to Atalanta for another campaign on loan, Mattia Caldara could end up never featuring in an official game for the Serie A champions if Gazzetta dello Sport are to be believed on Monday.
The Italian newspaper believe the 24-year-old has overtaken Daniele Rugani on Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea wishlist, as the former Napoli manager continues to wait for a new centre-back at Stamford Bridge.
Originally set on bringing his former Empoli pupil with him to London, it appears Caldara is now top after Juventus’ director of football, Fabio Paratici, met with Chelsea executives over the weekend to discuss the sale of a defender.
Gazzetta state that ‘behind Caldara’ is Rugani, which gives us a hint at Sarri’s order of preference, and the outlet claim it’s ‘now certain one of the two will leave’.
Whether that is to Stamford Bridge depends entirely on Milan, who have also taken an interest in the new Juventus defender thanks to Leonardo’s return as their director of football.
While Chelsea would have the advantage financially, the Rossoneri do have a certain Leonardo Bonucci they can use as a makeweight in any deal.
Decisions, decisions…
P.S.: This comes 24 hours after Tuttosport reported a €45-50m offer from the Blues for Caldara, although that isn’t mentioned in Gazzetta on Monday.
