Chelsea striker signing HIJACKED – ‘deal done’ and ‘race won’

Chelsea have lost out in the race to sign a striker, with two separate sources naming the club who vanquished the Blues, as well as the final transfer fee.

Chelsea’s transfer strategy this summer has surprised a few, with BlueCo moving away from primarily signing younger players with sky high potential.

Morgan Rogers and Maxence Lacroix are players for the here and now, while Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck are at the tail-end of their respective careers.

Nevertheless, the Blues have still brought in a handful of younger stars, most notably Marco Palestra. Fellow youngsters, Geovany Quenda and Emmanuel Emegha have arrived after their signings were pre-agreed.

Another younger talent Chelsea hoped to bring on board was Bosnia and Herzegovina international, Kerim Alajbegović.

He’s already racked up 14 caps for his country despite being just 18 years of age, and scored against Qatar at the recent World Cup.

Alajbegović rose to prominence last term while loaned from parent club Bayer Leverkusen to Austrian side RB Salzburg.

He’s been a man in demand this summer, with numerous sources including our own Graeme Bailey confirming Chelsea were among those seeking to secure his signature.

Indeed, Bailey reported earlier on Wednesday that Chelsea had informed Leverkusen of their intention to meet the club’s €40m asking price, and attention had thus turned to ironing out an agreement on personal terms.

Yet despite making that commitment, Chelsea have now been beaten to a deal by Italian giant Juventus.

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Juventus beat Chelsea to Kerim Alajbegovic transfer

That news was initially broken by Sky Germany, and was subsequently backed up by Ben Jacobs.

Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg wrote on X: ‘Kerim Alajbegovic to Juventus – DONE DEAL.

‘Full agreement reached with Bayer 04 Leverkusen for a fixed fee of €33m.

‘Including bonuses, Leverkusen can receive up to €40m, as revealed on Monday.

‘Juventus have won the race ahead of Chelsea and Napoli. Medical and signing still pending.’

Jacobs went on to state on X: ‘Juventus have reached an agreement with Bayer Leverkusen for Kerim Alajbegovic. €33m+€7m package.

‘As previously reported, Juventus a frontrunner, while Chelsea held talks. Player terms still to be finalised.’

The fact an agreement on personal terms is still to be ironed out could give Chelsea hope of launching a late hijack.

But with Plettenberg going strong with his insistence the race is won, you would have to assume Chelsea will now look at other market opportunities.

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