Chelsea
Chelsea to lure South American with £80k-a-week contract after tabling £27m offer
Chelsea are ready to lure Leandro Paredes with a contract worth £80,000-a-week after submitting an opening £26.8m offer for the Zenit St Petersburg star
The January transfer window is open and managers are working hard on strengthening their squads and identifying targets for the summer so we’ll keep you up-to-date with the latest rumours. Today, Chelsea have made their move for Leandro Paredes….
Chelsea are ready to lure Leandro Paredes with a contract worth £80,000-a-week after submitting an opening £26.8m offer for the Zenit St Petersburg midfielder, according to the Evening Standard.
Paredes is a product of the Boca Juniors youth system after joining the club at just 8 years old and made his name in Italy during a three-year stint at Roma before joining Zenit St Petersburg in a £24m deal in the summer of 2017.
The 24-year-old has continued to impress during his time in Russia but recent speculation has suggested Paredes is already eyeing a move and he’s been linked Chelsea as well as a return to boyhood club Boca Juniors.
However, the Evening Standard claims Chelsea are ready to try and lure Paredes to west London this month with the promise of a bumper four-and-a-half year contract worth a basic salary of £80,000-a-week.
The newspaper says the Blues have already submitted an opening offer worth £26.8m but it remains to be seen whether Zenit will accept given it’s not much more than they paid for the Argentinean international 18 months ago.
Chelsea are needing to bring in a central midfielder this winter after Cesc Fabregas joined Monaco last week and the Evening Standard says Paredes has emerged as their prime target after Nicolo Barella decided to stay with Cagliari.
Maurizio Sarri is determined to sign a replacement for Fabregas before the end of the month as he has very little back-up behind Jorginho in the holding midfield role and it seems Chelsea are doing all they can to lure Paredes to England.
The South American would be an exciting addition to the squad if Chelsea could pull it off but we’ll have to wait and see whether they’re able to get a deal agreed or be forced to move on to other targets.
