Chelsea is preparing for new transfer war with Barcelona as the La Liga giants eye the next free agent.
Chelsea and Barcelona may renew their transfer rivalry, with the Spanish club considering a move for Blues midfielder Jorginho. The Italian’s contract at Stamford Bridge expires next summer, and he is free to negotiate a pre-contractual agreement with foreign clubs in January.
According to the Mirror, Xavi’s side are interested in signing Jorginho to replace Sergio Busquets, who is also out of contract next summer. The Spanish playmaker will be 35 when his contract expires, and he may leave due to the La Liga club’s financial difficulties.
Jorginho ticks all the boxes for Barcelona executives looking for a replacement for their legendary midfield maestro, especially since a free transfer would allow them to cut costs at the club.
A move would mean that Chelsea would suffer yet another setback at the hands of Barcelona, who beat the Blues to the signings of Jules Kounde and Raphinha, while also doing plenty of business as Marcos Alonso and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang swapped clubs. Chelsea was able to sign captain Cesar Azpilicueta to a new contract despite Xavi’s interest.
Busquets has stated that he “will not be a problem” for Barcelona as he prepares to end an 18-year association with the club, prompting the Catalan giants to pursue Jorginho. “I believe I can help, and I am,” Busquets said in March.
“I have a year left on my contract.” I’m taking it one step at a time. I am aware that I am 33 years old. I’ll finish this season and enter the final year of my contract with the World Cup, so it’ll be different with the break in the middle for that.
“I’m hoping to play in the World Cup.” After that, I’ll see how I’m doing, what the coach [Xavi] expects of me, the club… And we will make a decision. To be honest, I won’t be a bother. When my contract expires, the coach and the club may want me to stay, but I may feel the time has come.”
Jorginho is in the final year of a contract he signed in 2018 when he moved from Napoli for £57 million, and his agent has stated that the 30-year-“priority” old’s is to stay at Chelsea.
“He still has a year left on his contract with the Blues; the renewal is the priority,” Jorginho’s agent Joao Santos told 1 Station Radio in May, amid reports linking his client to Juventus. “However, Chelsea cannot operate in the market at the moment due to issues arising from [Roman] Abramovich‘s sale, so we will meet with the club again to discuss it.”
“Jorginho has six or seven years of high-level football experience.” He also plays in the Premier League, which is unquestionably more important than the Italian championship.
Not to mention that he is a European champion and won the Champions League the year before. Obviously, a profile like Jorge’s would benefit many teams, including those in Italy. The Chelsea situation comes first because his priority is the renewal with the Londoners.”
Leave a Reply