Chelsea Switch Focus To £87m Hitman After Man Utd Agree £75m Deal For Top Target

Managers are now pressing ahead with their plans for the summer transfer window so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip from around the globe. Today, Chelsea turn their attention to Andrea Belotti…

Chelsea have turned their attention to signing Torino striker Andrea Belotti after Manchester United hijacked their proposed move to land Everton’s Romelu Lukaku, according to a report in the Metro.

Antonio Conte is desperately trying to bring in a top class striker after making it clear to Diego Costa he isn’t in his plans for next season and the Blues were hotly tipped to win the race to sign Lukaku.

The Liverpool Echo reported last month that Chelsea had opened formal negotiations with Everton after Conte had made Lukaku his prime target and it seemed like just a matter of time before the Belgian international would be heading back to Stamford Bridge.

However, the west Londoners struggled to agree terms with the Merseysiders and it seems that delay opened the door for United as the BBC were one of several media outlet to claim yesterday that the Manchester giants have agreed a £75m deal with Everton to sign Lukaku this summer.

Jose Mourinho is also in the market for a new front-man after losing Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the reports suggest United are confident of wrapping-up their proposed deal swiftly to allow Lukaku to fly-out on their pre-season tour on Sunday.

This news has dealt a hammer blow to Chelsea but it doesn’t look like Conte is hanging around as the Metro are citing a report coming from Mediaset’s Premium Sport that claims the Blues have now set their sights on Belotti.

The Italian international has forged a reputation as one of the hottest strikers in Europe after scoring 28 goals for Torino last season and his form has caught the eye of several top clubs.

The Metro suggest that Chelsea have now made Belotti their priority target ahead of Alvaro Morata but Torino insist the 23-year-old will only leave if his £87.6m buy out clause is met in full.

It remains to be seen whether Chelsea will be prepared to pay that kind of money as surely if they are ready to spend £87m on Belotti then they would have just matched United’s £75m offer for Lukaku?

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

Either way, it seems Chelsea are going to try their luck in signing the Italian hitman and I think he’d be an excellent signing for the Premier League champions if they could get a deal agreed.