Chelsea & Man Utd Table Formal Bids For International Midfielder

The opening of the summer transfer window is now open so we’ll bring you all the latest transfer rumours and gossip from around the globe. Today, Chelsea and Man Utd table bids for Lassana Diarra….

Chelsea and Manchester United are trying to lure Lassana Diarra back to the Premier League after tabling formal offers for Marseille midfielder, according to the Express.

Diarra knows English football well having previously spent time with Chelsea, Arsenal and Portsmouth between 2005 and 2009 but struggled to establish himself before making a dream move to Real Madrid.

A reasonably successful three-year stint in Spain led to a move to Russia where he played for Anzhi Makhachkala and Lokomotiv Moscow before he joined Marseille on a free transfer in the summer of 2015.

Diarra has rediscovered his best form back in Ligue 1 and his superb performances at the heart of Marseille’s midfield last season saw him named in Didier Deschamp’s original squad for Euro 2016 and he was expected to start before injury cruelly ruled him out of the tournament.

It appears the 31-year-old’s impressive form has caught the eye of clubs back in England as the Express are citing reports coming from BeIN Sports that claim Chelsea and Man Utd have now tabled formal offers for his signature.

The newspaper suggests that Diarra struck a gentleman’s agreement with the Marseille president when he made his move last summer that he could leave the club for nothing this summer if a tempting offer came in.

However, they say that Marseille have reneged on that agreement are now demanding a fee for the midfielder – although it’s not stated in the paper what their asking price is or how much Chelsea and United have put on the table.

Incoming Blues boss Antonio Conte is gearing up for a busy summer in the transfer market with the Italian tactician reportedly looking to bring in two new midfielders to form the base of his new-look set-up and it appears he’s keen to lure Diarra back to Stamford Bridge over 10 years after he left the club.

However, they’ll face stiff competition from United as Jose Mourinho knows the French international well as they worked together at Madrid and he could certainly do with another central midfielder to compete with Michael Carrick and Bastian Schweinsteiger next season.

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

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop over the coming weeks but Diarra would be a decent signing for either club and it’s going to be interesting to see if he decides to have another crack at being a success here in the Premier League.