Chelsea table £31m bid for South American star, ready to offer £80k-a-week contract

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 make an improved offer for Leandro Paredes….

Chelsea have submitted an improved bid worth £31.2m for Leandro Paredes after Zenit St Petersburg rejected their opening offer for the midfielder, according to the Evening Standard.

Maurizio Sarri is desperate to bring in another midfielder to replace Cesc Fabregas following his move to Monaco and the Chelsea boss admitted at the weekend he has very little back-up behind Jorginho in the deep playmaker role.

Paredes has emerged as the prime target after Nicolo Barella decided to stay with Cagliari and the Evening Standard reported on Monday that Chelsea had formalised their interest with an opening £26.8m bid.

However, the newspaper has offered an update on Tuesday to reveal that Chelsea have been forced to go back in with an improved bid of £31.2m after Zenit St Petersburg knocked back their first offer.

It remains to be seen whether the Russians will accept Chelsea’s latest bid but the Evening Standard claim the Blues are ready to lure Paredes to west London with a four-and-a-half-year contract worth £80,000-a-week should a fee be agreed.

The report says Chelsea are keen to get a deal for the Argentinean international wrapped up as soon as possible but Zenit may hold out for more as they value the 24-year-old midfielder at closer to £36m.

Paredes is a product of the Boca Juniors youth system but made his name here in Europe during an impressive three-year spell at Roma before joining Zenit for £24m in the summer of 2017.

The South American has continued to impress during his time in Russia so he’d be an exciting addition to Sarri’s squad if Chelsea could get a deal agreed this month, but we’ll have to wait and see how things develop over the coming days.