Chelsea Blow As Man Utd Chiefs Fly Out For Talks Over €47m Midfield Target

As we approach the opening of the summer window clubs will be intensifying their efforts in the transfer market so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, the race hots up for William Carvalho.

Manchester United appear to have stolen a march on Chelsea after sending a team over to Portugal to hold talks with Sporting Lisbon over the signing of €47m-rated midfielder William Carvalho, according to reports.

Carvalho has emerged as one of the most highly-rate young midfielders in Europe after breaking in to the Sporting first team last season following a successful loan at Brugge in 2012/13.

His impressive displays not only saw him earn a place in the Portuguese squad for this summers World Cup finals, but he’s also attracted interest from a whole host of top European clubs with Manchester United and Chelsea among those understood to be interested.

Reports over the weekend suggested that Blues boss Jose Mourinho was set to step up his interest in the 22-year-old as he looks to bring in a powerful defensive midfielder to replace David Luiz – who joined PSG earlier in the summer.

However, it looks like the west Londoners may have to act quickly as the Daily Mail claim today that United have sent a delegation over to Portugal to open formal talks with Sporting about a potential deal to take Carvalho to Old Trafford.

The major stumbling block for any club is the price, as the Portuguese outfit are reluctant to do business at anything below the players €47m (£37.5m) buy-out clause, and it’s unlikely either United or Chelsea are going to be prepared to pay that kind of money for a player who’s only really had a couple of good seasons in relatively weak leagues.

The Premier League duo are also going to face stiff competition from abroad with the likes of Monaco, Real Madrid and Juventus also reportedly keen, with the newspaper stating that Monaco have already seen a £27m bid rejected this summer.

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

Carvalho is a beast of a player, standing at 6ft 2ins and powerfully built, so you’d expect he’d be able to adapt to the physical nature of English football if he did make the move here this summer.

For now, it looks like United have taken the lead in the race for his signature but it remains to be seen how Chelsea will react to the deposed champions opening talks or whether either club will be able to agree a deal with Sporting Lisbon for the midfielder.