Chelsea could make a player-plus-cash deal to sign Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic this summer, Corriere dello Sport report.
The Blues have yet to make a signing during the ongoing transfer window, but they have recently agreed a fee with Leeds United for winger Raphinha.
The Brazilian should be a quality signing for Chelsea if they can get it over the line, but the club may also want to reinforce several other positions ahead of the new campaign.
One of those could be the central midfield and Corriere dello Sport claim that Chelsea could attempt to sign Milinkovic-Savic in a part-exchange deal.
Lazio are looking for around £69 million for their prized asset, but the report says the Blues are planning to offer £43m with Emerson acting as a potential makeweight.
Emerson has been regularly linked with the Serie A outfit in recent weeks, and Chelsea believe the offer could be ‘adequate’ to land Milinkovic-Savic.
Our view:
Milinkovic-Savic has been one of Serie A’s best performing midfielders. The 27-year-old bagged an impressive 11 goals and 12 assists from 47 games for Lazio last term.
Aside from his goal involvements, he was also solid defensively with an average of 1.8 tackles and 0.9 interceptions per game while winning nearly three aerial duels.
Hence, he can be regarded as an elite box-to-box midfielder, and this is something that Chelsea have lacked in the centre of the park under manager Thomas Tuchel.
N’Golo Kante and Jorginho are not creative midfielders in any form. They have made key defensive contributions, but have shown signs of regression recently.
Elsewhere, Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are slightly attack-minded, but neither have been able to chip in with regular goals and assists for the London giants.
Milinkovic-Savic would be a perfect candidate to sort this concern. It remains to be seen whether Lazio are persuaded to sanction his sale on a part-exchange agreement.
Lazio boss Maurizio Sarri is said to welcome a reunion with his ex-player in Emerson, but the capital club may potentially want a higher fee to part ways with Milinkovic-Savic.
The Serbian has been with Lazio for seven seasons, but they are bound to be tempted to sell him this summer, considering he has no plans to renew beyond June 2024.
