Chelsea will try to sign Atletico Madrid’s star midfielder Koke by giving the Spanish club a chance to re-sign Felipe Luis.
Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, is believed to be a huge admirer of Spanish midfielder Koke. It is believed that Chelsea had enquired about the playera s availability last season before the 23-year-old signed a new five-year deal at Atletico 10 months ago.
The contract extension means that Kokea s release clause stands at a whopping A?48 million but Chelsea are not put off by the huge amount and will try to sign the Spaniard in the summer transfer window.
Chelsea and Atletico share a good relationship having been involved in a lot of transfer activity amongst themselves last summer. The relationship started with Chelsea loaning Thibaut Courtois to the Spanish side and has developed since.
Four players have enjoyed the privilege of playing for both the big clubs in their career. Thibaut Courtois spent three seasons on loan at Atletico, winning the Europa League, Copa Del Rey and La Liga. Diego Costa and Felipe Luis were the two player Chelsea prised away from Atletico Madrid in summer and then made Fernando Torresa return to his former club possible this January.
Diego Costa has been a successful signing for Chelsea with the Spain international having scored 18 leagues goals already. However, Felipe Luis has struggled to make an impact since making a move to the Premier League side.
The Brazilian plays second fiddle to Cesar Azpilicueta who is a regular name in the starting line-up. The left-back has only started six games for the Blues and will remain as a back-up to Azpilicueta whose place in the starting eleven is not negotiable.
There were rumours circulated in Spain that Luis is not happy at the Stamford Bridge and wishes to return to his former club. However, Chelsea denied those reports.
But according to fresh reports, Atletico will try to tempt the Brazil international into coming back to Spain. If there is interest from Atletico to re-sign Luis they might have to part away with star-man Koke.
Atletico are still facing financial difficulties despite last seasona s success. The idea of cashing on Koke does not seem impossible, especially if Chelsea include Felipe Luis in the deal and offer a decent amount of cash.
However, Koke is young and a very important player for Atletico. He will probably be the last man Diego Simeone would want to let go.
