Chelsea Hoping To Hijack Man Utd’s Proposed £25m Move For Brazilian Star

The transfer window is now drawing to a close so we’ll bring you all the latest transfer rumours and gossip from around the globe. Today, Chelsea join the race for Fabinho…

Chelsea are looking to hijack Manchester United’s proposed move for Monaco full-back Fabinho with Antonio Conte eyeing a late swoop for the £25m-rated Brazilian international, according to L’Equipe via the Daily Star.

Jose Mourinho has been tipped to further strengthen his defence during the closing stages of the transfer window but will need to offload two of his current high earners before he can make any more new additions to his squad.

Right-back is a particular area of concern for the Portuguese coach and with Matteo Darmian expected to secure a move back to Italy, the Mirror reported last week that Mourinho had lined-up Fabinho as a replacement.

The Brazilian full-back has been strongly linked with a move to Old Trafford all summer with reports back in July suggesting that United were working on a deal for the 22-year-old.

However, it looks like the Red Devils are going to face some stiff competition as the Daily Star are citing reports coming from L’Equipe that claim Chelsea have now joined the chase for Fabinho’s signature.

Antonio Conte has made no secret of his desire to bring in new players before the end of the month and defence is a key area of concern as the Italian coach currently has just four fit senior defenders to choose from.

The Blues have been frustrated in their pursuits of centre-back targets such as Kalidou Koulibaly and Alessio Romagnoli so it looks as though Conte may be looking to bring in a new right-back which would allow Branislav Ivanovic to move in to a more central role.

Fabinho looks to be on Conte’s radar and the Daily Star claim that the west Londoners will now battle-it-out with United for the South American’s signature over the coming days with Monaco believed to be ready to do business at £25m.

That sort of money shouldn’t be a problem for clubs with the financial resources of Chelsea or United so we could realistically see Fabinho coming to the Premier League over the coming days.

The exciting right-back is a full Brazilian international and has become one of the best full-backs in French football since moving to Monaco in 2013 so I think he’d be an excellent buy for either Chelsea or United.

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However, the Manchester giants may feel confident of winning the race as Fabinho’s representative is Jorge Mendes – who also represents Mourinho – so I’m sure the ‘Special One’ will be using his relationship with the agent to try and swing the deal in his favour.