Chelsea are closing in on Alex Sandro for a club record
transfer fee of £61million and are preparing to recoup around £20m by selling
Nathan Ake to Bournemouth.
Ake impressed on loan at Bournemouth at the start of last
season and was recalled on loan in January as cover for Marcos Alonso and Gary
Cahill on the left side of Antonio Conte’s defence.
The versatile Dutch international defender performed
brilliantly when he deputised for Cahill in the FA Cup semi-final but found his
chances were limited at Chelsea during the latter part of the season.
At 22, he is determined to find regular football and talks
have opened over a move back to Bournemouth.
Chelsea are reluctant to sell a player they believe will
mature into a fine Premier League defender and will demand a buy-back option in
the details of any deal.a
But Van Dijk’s proposed move to Liverpool stalled after
allegations of an illegal approach by the Merseysiders and made the Saints move
reluctant than ever to sell.
Liverpool and Chelsea are expected to return with further
attempts to prise Van Dijk away now Southampton have finally resolved their
managerial change with Mauricio Pellegrino replacing Claude Puel.
However Bournemouth have stolen ahead in the race for Ake.
Sandro, meanwhile, has told Juventus he wants to leave for
Chelsea.
Juve chief executive Beppe Marotta rejected Chelsea’s
initial bid of £55.2m although he told the Brazilian left-back he would not
stand in his way if the price was right.
The Italian champions will make a healthy profit on the
26-year-old who cost £23m when he signed from Porto two years ago.
Sandro started out in Brazil with Atletico Paranaense before
a year at Santos and an £8m move to Porto in 2011.
Chelsea are prepared to increase their offer and show
backing for manager Conte who has become concerned at the lack of activity at
the start of what he hoped would be a big summer of recruitment at Stamford
Bridge.
The fee will smash the £50m Chelsea paid for striker
Fernando Torres in 2011 and will eclipse the £47.5m British record fee for a
defender paid by Manchester City to Everton for John Stones last year.
Sandro is a strong and attack-minded left-back who will
compete for a place with Marcos Alonso.
Top ten most expensive transfers of all time:
- Paul Pogba £89m – Juventus to Manchester United – 2016
- Gareth Bale £86m – Tottenham to Real Madrid – 2013
- Cristiano Ronaldo £80m – Manchester United to Real Madrid – 2009
- Gonzalo Higuain £76m – Napoli to Juventus – 2016
- Luis Suarez £75m – Liverpool to Barcelona – 2014
- James Rodriguez £63m – Monaco to Real Madrid – 2014
- Alex Sandro £61m – Juventus to Chelsea – 2017
- Oscar £60m – Chelsea to Shanghai SIPG – 2017
- Angel Di Maria £59.7m – Real Madrid to Manchester United – 2014
- Kaka £56m – AC Milan to Real Madrid – 2009
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