Chelsea stand firm after rejecting Juventus midfield swap proposal

Jorginho Barkley TEAMtalk

Chelsea have reportedly turned down the opportunity to swap midfielder Jorginho for Juventus star Miralem Pjanic.

The Blues have already secured the services of Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner for next season, with more big names expected to follow.

But one man that appears unlikely to arrive at Stamford Bridge is Pjanic.

According to calciomercato, as cited by The Sun, the Blues have rebuffed Juve’s advances and are reluctant to swap their Italian international. That decision will deny former boss Maurizio Sarri another reunion with the 28-year-old.


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Despite Sarri’s admiration for the player, it is believed that Barcelona star Arthur was actually the Serie A leaders’ primary target.

Juventus tried to swap 30-year-old Pjanic for the talented Brazilian, but Arthur opted to stay and fight for his place with the Catalan giants instead.

That led the Turin giants to target Jorginho again, but seemingly with no luck.

The defensive midfielder has made 37 appearances in all competitions for the Blues this season and has remained a key player for Frank Lampard.

But with the emergence of youngster Billy Gilmour, and improvement of Mateo Kovacic, it had been rumoured that the likes of Jorginho and N’golo Kante would be moved on.

However, Lampard views strong squad competition as a must if the Blues are to challenge for the Premier League title again. To that end, he does not want to see any of his top stars leave.

 

 

Meanwnhile, Manchester City already have a plan in place to sign Leroy Sane’s successor after holding talks with a Bayer Leverkusen winger catching both Chelsea and Man Utd’s eye.

Germany international Sane made his return from a year out with a knee ligament injury against Arsenal on Wednesday. But he is not looking set for a long-term future with City.

He has 12 months left on his deal and has been heavily linked with Bayern Munich. But Sane’s decision to reject a new deal led Pep Guardiola to admit on Friday he will be able to leave if his club can find a buyer.

“Leroy has rejected to extend his contract. Everyone knows. If at the end of the season two clubs agree he can leave, if not he will leave at the end of his contract,” Guardiola said.

“The club offered two or three times and he rejected it.”

City rejected an offer worth up to £80m from Bayern for Sane last summer but can expect less now. It’s also reported that any funds they do get from his sale will be invested straight into a replacement.

Reports in France claims Guardiola already knows the identity of the man he wants to spend that money on with Leon Bailey in his sights. Read more…