Chelsea Plan £200m Raid on Serie A Stars

Chelsea Plan £200m Raid on Serie A Stars

Chelsea are plotting a stunning £200million outlay on Serie A players this summer with Miralem Pjanic and Lautaro Martinez among their targets.

The Blues are looking to invest heavily in their squad at the end of the season after being freed of the transfer ban that stopped Frank Lampard buying last summer.

He is keen to add a goalkeeper and striker among other positions and has reportedly identified three players in the Italian top flight he would like at Stamford Bridge.

The Evening Standard cite reports in Italy that claim the Blues are willing to splash out around £200m on the trio of big names in Serie A.

One of those is Juventus midfielder Pjanic, who may be keen on a move after falling down the pecking order under Maurizio Sarri.

The former Chelsea boss has reverted to a midfield trio of Rodrigo Bentancur, Blaise Matuidi and Aaron Ramsey in recent weeks, leaving the Bosnian out.

It is believed it would take a bid in the region of £55m to get Juventus to sell.

Lampard may be willing to part with Jorginho, a player bought by Sarri but one who has failed to find his feet in the Premier League, to make space in his midfield.

Lampard was desperate to buy a striker in the January transfer window to compete with Tammy Abraham but failed to get one through the door.

They are now said to be joining the long list of clubs interested in Martinez after his stunning form for Antonio Conte’s Inter.

Despite heavy interest from Barcelona as well, Conte seems unwilling to let one of his key players go but with Mauro Icardi still to return to the club they could be persuaded to sell if the offer is right.

The third Serie A player linked with a move to west London is AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Kepa Arrizabalaga lost his place as Chelsea’s No 1 earlier this year after a series of major errors.

He was replaced by Willy Caballero but came back into the team before the season was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

If Lampard decides to change his first-choice goalkeeper then the Blues would do well to recoup the £72m they spent on Kepa in the summer of 2018.

Donnarumma was hailed as the world’s next great goalkeeper only a few years ago but has seen his stock fall due to AC Milan’s on-field woes.

It is believed he could be available for around £47m.

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