Chelsea tried to ‘replace Oscar with Turkish star’ – report

Mark Scott
Hakan Calhanoglu: Rules out Chelsea move

Hakan Calhanoglu: Rules out Chelsea move

Chelsea attempted to replace Oscar with Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu in the summer, according to reports in Turkey.

Turkish newspaper Haberturk claim that the 22-year-old – who also attracted interest from Tottenham and Inter Milan – was close to moving to Stamford Bridge, but his current Bundesliga club were unwilling to budge from their £17million asking price.

Turkey boss Fatih Terim was even made aware of the prospective move, with Chelsea boss Antonio Conte keen to find an alternative to Oscar.

However, Conte has now put his complete faith in Oscar and will seemingly not reignite interest in Calhanoglu this January.

“Oscar’s future is Chelsea. It’s Chelsea full stop,” Conte said ahead of the Blues trip to Middlesbrough.

“For me Oscar is an important player and he’s in good form.

“It’s logical that I have to choose a starting XI every week but Oscar is a great player. For me he will stay at Chelsea.

“It’s important to send this message to everyone.

“Oscar will stay with us, because I repeat I consider him an important player at Chelsea.”