In a bid to fix their defensive woes, Chelsea have been linked to many defenders across Europe and the latest name added to the list was that of Alessio Romagnoli of AC Milan.
AC Milan have now turned down a second bid from Chelsea for their young centre-back. The Blues had reportedly made a €25 million offer to the Rossonerri on Monday only to see it get rejected. Then Antonio Conte’s side refused to give up on the youngster and tabled a second €35 million bid on Wednesday.
But according to Gazzetta World, Milan have rejected Chelsea’s second bid as well. The report states that President Adriano Galliani isn’t willing to let Romagnoli with only a few days left in the transfer window. Besides losing out on one of their top defenders, the there is a clause in the 21-year-old’s contract which states that should he sold in the future, Roma would receive 30% of the fee should it exceed €25 million and allowing Roma to benefit from this sale is another reason why AC Milan would not want to go ahead with this transfer.
The former Roma defender is also capable of playing left-back whenever required, something that Conte could use to great effect in his current Chelsea squad. The fact that Conte is turning to a man who he didn’t even include in his 23-man Italy squad for the European Championships in France, shows that Chelsea are getting desperate. With two bids refused this week already, Chelsea can either step up with another increased bid to lure Romagnoli away from the San Siro or turn their attentions elsewhere in the hunt for a defender.
But only three games into the new season, Chelsea’s defensive woes are glaringly evident. Ivanovic and Cahill aren’t the defenders they once were, an ageing John Terry isn’t likely to stick around for much longer and Cesar Azpilicueta is being played out of position at left-back. Chelsea have no more defenders to rely on after Baba Rahman and Papy Djiloboldji left for Schalke 04 and Sunderland this summer respectively. Chelsea are fast running out of options and with only a few days left in the transfer window, the Chelsea hierarchy are sure to go into overdrive in the hunt for a new defender and a big money move for a young defender may yet be on the cards.
