Chelsea New Favourites Ahead Of Man Utd For £30m-Rated Serie A Star

The summer transfer window is now open for business and it’s expected to be a busy few weeks as managers strengthen their squads ahead of next season, so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, Chelsea are new favourites ahead of Man Utd and Man City for Mehdi Benatia.

Chelsea are now considered the new favourites ahead of Manchester United and Manchester City to sign £30m-rated Roma defender Mehdi Benatia, according to reports.

Benatia has emerged as one of the best centre-back’s in Europe after an excellent season in Serie A where his solid displays at the back helped Roma to a second-placed finish behind eventual champions Juventus.

His impressive performances have attracted interest from England with reports suggesting the 27-year-old could have the option to play for either Chelsea, Manchester United or Manchester City during the Premier League 2014/15 season.

However, the Express claim that Chelsea are now favourites for the defenders signature as Jose Mourinho looks to bring in an experienced defender following the sale of David Luiz to PSG last month, while young French centre-back Kurt Zouma is set for another loan spell this season.

The news comes just days after reports in Italy suggested that Benatia wanted a move to Stamford Bridge as he was keen to play for Mourinho, so it certainly seems like the Blues have a good chance of landing the talented defender if they can agree a fee with Roma.

Although the Italians are understandably desperate to keep hold of the player, it’s understood they may be persuaded to do business if a bid of £30m came in, but it remains to be seen whether Chelsea will be prepared to meet that figure.

Mourinho has been extremely active so far this summer and completed his third major signing on Wednesday after agreeing a fee with Atletico Madrid for left-back Filipe Luis, and the Brazilian defender follows Cesc Fabregas and former Atletico team-mate Diego Costa to West London.

However, while Chelsea appear to be in pole position to make Benatia their fourth addition this summer, the Express suggest that Man Utd are still ready to offer stiff competition for the Moroccans signature.

New United boss Louis van Gaal officially took charge on Wednesday and is expected to make signing a new centre-back one of his top priorities after seeing both Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand leave the club.

READ MORE –> Chelsea transfer news | Man Utd transfer news

Whether the former champions will be able to convince Benatia to opt for Old Trafford is another story, particularly as they aren’t able to offer Champions League football this season, but it’s going to be interesting to see where the talented defender ends up if he does decide to leave Serie A.