Chelsea Prioritising Moussa Dembélé Transfer & Make Contact Over Alex Telles Deal

Chelsea are thought to be prioritising a deal for Lyon striker Moussa Dembélé once the summer transfer window opens.

The Blues were heavily linked with 1,000 strikers in January to try and offer some support to Tammy Abraham, but they ultimately failed to get any business done, leaving them with Olivier Giroud and Michy Batshuayi as backup.

Dembélé was one of their rumoured targets in January, while they were also considering RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner. Now, according to The Athletic’s ​Simon Johnson, ​Liverpool’s interest in the latter has forced ​Chelsea to focus on Dembélé.

At least one of ​Giroud and ​Batshuayi are expected to leave in the summer. Giroud’s contract will expire at the end of the season, while the jury is still out on the frustratingly inconsistent Batshuayi, so finding a new striker is one of the Blues’ top priorities.

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Dembélé, who has managed 16 goals in 27 Ligue 1 appearances this year, will likely be expensive as he remains under contract with Lyon until 2023, but it is suggested that Chelsea are ready to pay the price to land him.

Alongside their pursuit of a striker, Johnson believes Chelsea are likely to sign a new winger to replace the outgoing pair of ​Pedro and ​Willian, but another position which is expected to be bolstered is left-back.

One man who has long been in their sights is Porto’s Alex Telles. A Bola (via ​The Sun) claim that the Blues have already opened talks to sign him, and the belief is that the deal is ‘inevitable’.

Telles is believed to have a €40m release clause, but Porto are trying to raise that by tying him down to a new contract. Unfortunately for the Portuguese side, Telles has shown no interest in doing so, and he has now entered the final 18 months of his current deal.

Instead, he wants to make the move to Chelsea, and is ready to reject any contract offers to ensure he gets his wish.

That €40m price tag is thought to be a potential stumbling block – a source confirmed to 90min that ​spending so heavily on a left-back is not in Chelsea’s plans – so Blues chief Marina Granovskaia may need to get her game face on for these negotiations.

Source: 90min.com