Juventus ready to offer player ‘liked’ by Chelsea in pursuit of Jorginho
Chelsea are open to the prospect of signing Adrien Rabiot from Juventus as part of a summer swap deal for Jorginho, claims a report.
The departure of Jorginho from Stamford Bridge has been mooted ever since Maurizio Sarri left in June 2019. The midfielder arrived in west London the previous summer and joined his former Napoli boss Sarri after signing a five-year deal.
That contract expires in 2023, meaning the Italy international will enter the final 12 months of that deal this summer.
Jorginho, 30, is one of a number of Chelsea stars who are out of contract in the next few years. However, so far the likes of Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen have been the focus of the Blues.
There has been no talk of a new deal for the midfielder, who won the Champions League and Euro 2020 last summer.
“We’re not in talks to extend the current deal with Chelsea,” Jorginho’s agent Joao Santos told TuttoMercatoWeb in December. “He’s still under contract until June 2023 – maybe we’ll open talks in the next months.”
It’s unclear exactly where Thomas Tuchel stands on the future of Jorginho, but Juve are interested in the player.
Max Allegri has targeted Jorginho and the Serie A giants could offer Rabiot to Tuchel’s side as part of the deal, as per TuttoJuve.
What is more, Rabiot, 26, “is a player who is liked” by Chelsea.
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The proposed deal will more than likely be a loan deal. Similar to the one that brough Saul Niguez to the club last summer.
Saul arrived on a season-long loan for an initial loan fee of £3.4m. It now looks like a clever piece of business, exercising caution and taking the midfielder on a temporary deal. As Saul has struggled to fit into the Premier League.
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Rabiot contract running down
Tuchel recently admitted that Saul has “struggled a bit with intensity” and the 27-year-old will more than likely return to Atletico in the summer.
As for Rabiot, the midfielder has started 18 games out of a possible 27 in Serie A this season. And Juve are reportedly ‘ready to say goodbye’ per Calciomercato.
Only last week they reported that if an “adequate offer” was made, in the region of €10m-15m (£8m-12.5m) they would be willing to let him leave.
While Juventus were seemingly cautious of letting him go in January, they are more open to the idea now.
Rabiot joined from Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent in 2019.
His contract though is running down, and he would be able to leave for free in 2023.
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