Chelsea Pushing To Wrap-Up £8m Deal As Man Utd Plot Late Hijack Attempt

With the summer transfer window finally open for business, managers are working hard trying to strengthen their squads ahead of next season so we’ll bring you all the news and gossip. Today, Man Utd and Chelsea could battle it out over Asmir Begovic….

Chelsea are ready to push ahead with a fresh £8m move for Asmir Begovic amid fears Manchester United are plotting a late hijack attempt to land the Stoke City goalkeeper, according to the Daily Mail.

The Blues are in the market for an experienced stopper to compete with Thibaut Courtois next season after Petr Cech sealed his move to London rivals Arsenal last week.

Begovic has emerged as Jose Mourinho’s main target with the Guardian one of several newspapers who claimed last Tuesday that the Portuguese coach had seen his opening £6m offer rejected by the Potters.

Chelsea have been pondering a fresh bid but it looks like they’re being forced into action as the Daily Mail claim the Blues will now table an improved £8m offer in the coming days as they fear Man Utd are lining-up a late attempt to hijack their deal.

United are also identifying potential replacements for David De Gea and the newspaper suggests that Louis van Gaal will swoop for Begovic once the Spaniard completes his protracted switch to Real Madrid.

It’s not clear when that deal will go through but it looks like Chelsea are ready to push ahead with their attempts to sign Begovic before United enter the race as the Mail claim that Mourinho is hoping to wrap-up a deal this coming week.

We’ll have to wait and see if the champions can agree a fee with Stoke but the longer they go without securing a deal, the more chance there is of opening the door for United to enter the bidding.

Begovic would be an excellent signing for either club as he has vast experience in the Premier League having been one of Stoke most consistent performers since joining the club from Portsmouth in 2010.

It appears Chelsea are still in pole position to secure his signature but it would be interesting to see who Begovic would chose if United were to put forward a rival offer.

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

The Bosnian international would almost certainly be considered as back-up to Courtois at Stamford Bridge whereas he’d have a far better chance of being No.1 at Old Trafford if he was brought in to replace De Gea.

Therefore, Begovic may be tempted to bide his time and see if De Gea’s future is resolved any time soon as I’m sure the prospect of regular first team action at United would be appealing to the 28-year-old.