Chelsea & Man Utd Express Their Interest In Signing £40m Brazilian Star

Chelsea and Manchester are ready to go head-to-head over the signing of Marquinhos after expressing their interest in signing the Paris Saint-Germain defender this summer, according to the Independent.

Marquinhos forged a reputation as one of the finest young defenders in world football during his time in Italy while at Roma before eventually earning himself a big-money move to PSG in the summer of 2013.

The Brazilian international enjoyed an encouraging start to life at the Parc des Paris but unfortunately things haven’t gone to plan over the past two seasons as he’s fallen out-of-favour with Thiago Silva and David Luiz now the preferred central defensive partnership.

Even when he has started, Marquinhos has been forced to play at right-back and it’s led to speculation that he’s unsettled and will look to leave in search of regular action at the end of the season.

The uncertainty over his future has alerted clubs in the Premier League and the Independent cite a report coming from the Telegraph that claims both Chelsea and Manchester United have expressed their interest in signing Marquinhos this summer.

The newspaper suggests that both clubs will submit formal offers should the 21-year-old defender make it clear he wants a new challenge with the bidding expected to start at around the £40m mark.

PSG are understandably reluctant to lose such a talented young player but they are aware of his situation and may be tempted to cash-in if a big offer is put on the table so they can use the money to strengthen other areas of the squad.

The Independent suggest that Chelsea could be favourites to secure a deal as they may be willing to use Oscar or Eden Hazard as bait with PSG understood to prefer the idea of a player-plus-cash swap deal if they were to let Marquinhos leave.

Chelsea could certainly do with a player of his quality as new boss Antonio Conte is going to need to find a long-term replacement for John Terry with the long-serving skipper set to leave Stamford Bridge at the end of the season.

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

However, I still wouldn’t discount United as they desperately need a top class partner for Chris Smalling and even if Louis van Gaal is sacked this summer, whoever was to replace him would surely love to sign someone like Marquinhos if given the opportunity.

We’ll have to wait and see how things progress over the coming months but unless Marquinhos’s situation changes at PSG, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him push for a move this summer and it looks as though he’ll have two very tempting offers if he wants to try his luck here in England.