After entering into preliminary talks with his representatives a few days earlier, Chelsea have now launched a late bid for highly rated left-back Sead Kolasinac.
According to a report in by the Evening Standard, Chelsea have launched a last minute bid for Schalke O4 defender Sead Kolasinac. With Ivanovic edging closer to a move to Zenit St.Petersburg, the Blues have made a last ditch effort for Kolasinac in order to replace the departing stalwart.
Kolasinac was courting interest from the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea in November and a few days ago, it was reported that the Blues had entered into preliminary talks with his representatives as they looked to beat Antonio Conte’s former club Juventus in the race for his signature.
The promising young defender is extremely versatile, no doubt something that would be of interest to Antonio Conte. He has been deployed at left-back, left midfield, defensive midfield and center-back this season and in 18 appearances this term, he’s racked up 2 goals and 6 assists in all competitions.
Having recalled Nathan Ake from loan and with Kurt Zouma returning to fitness, Conte will have a number of top quality options to choose from and the arrival of the Karlsruhe-born Kolasinac will increase competition for places in the squad.
Primarily a left-back, he has spent most of this season playing at left midfield, which would make him perfect for Antonio Conte’s 3-4-3 system. He could easily slot into left wing back, a position for which Marcos Alonso had no competition, until very recently.
The transfer fee is still unknown, but the Bosnia & Herzegovina international shouldn’t prove to be too expensive for Chelsea, given that he only had 6 months remaining on his current Schalke contract and was reported to be in talks with his club over a ‘Bosman’ transfer in the summer.
It is yet to be seen if Schalke let him go at such a crucial time in the season, given that they are short of options in that position. The only other player competing with Kolasinac for that position, incidentally happened to be Chelsea loanee Baba Rahman, who has ruled out with a long term ACL injury.
