Chelsea is reportedly hoping to sign Juventus center-back Merih Demiral ahead of Newcastle this summer.
Demiral made an impression on loan at Atalanta last season, appearing in 42 games across all competitions for the Serie A club, albeit they did not elect to make the deal permanent.
According to reports, Juventus is unlikely to want Demiral back next season, implying a permanent sale somewhere.
Newcastle has been linked in recent days, and Chelsea is now rumored to have entered the competition as well.
According to CalcioMercatoWeb (via CaughtOffside), the Blues are considering Demiral as a replacement for Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, who have both left on free transfers.
According to the article, Chelsea could make a surprise offer to Juventus in order to get Demiral, with midfielder Jorginho being mentioned as a possible replacement.
The Italy international’s contract expires in 2023, and it’s been suggested that Chelsea would be happy to utilize him in this deal rather than risk losing him for nothing next summer.
Blues manager Thomas Tuchel is looking to add new defenders to his team as well as improve his striker options.
Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus, who has also attracted Arsenal’s interest, is one of the forwards linked with a move to Stamford Bridge.
Stan Collymore has urged the Brazilian to choose Chelsea over Arsenal if given the chance.
“I don’t think Arsenal will be the only club in the fight for him this summer,” he told the Mirror. “There are murmurs of Chelsea sniffing about” (quotes via Evening Standard).
“But, let’s assume Arsenal gets him. My general fear and concern about Arsenal, as always, is whether we can trust Mikel Arteta to bring the best out of Jesus, and, if Pep Guardiola can’t, could he be the manager who helps him reach his full potential?” No, I don’t believe so.
“However, if he joins Chelsea, he has the potential to be the player Romelu Lukaku was supposed to be but never was.” Chelsea creates a lot of opportunities, they put the ball in the box a lot, and Jesus can be the fox in the box that I’ve always said they need. Jesus could be that man if he just focused on performing some really outstanding work in the box.
“If I were Jesus, I’d be thinking of myself in the blue shirt at Stamford Bridge, with the supporting cast they have, which includes two rookies in Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka — and we don’t know if they’ll still be wearing Gunners shirts in two years, with Saka linked with Liverpool and City —
“I’d imagine Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, and, if he remains, Timo Werner would be putting it on a plate for me next season, and I’d be scoring 25 goals as a regular starter.” He will not, however, lead Arsenal to the Champions League next season because they require more than simply a finisher.
“They need to bring in players who believe in the vision, but I haven’t seen any of their big-name rookies displaying any signs that they believe Arsenal will be in the Champions League by this time next year.”
“So, if you’re Jesus, signed as ‘The Man,’ which adds to the strain, why go there when you could go to the Emirates or Stamford Bridge, where you’d be a far better fit?” ‘Go to London, Gabriel, but go to the blue side, not the red,’ I advise.
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