Chelsea may abandon a mooted pursuit of Fiorentina winger Juan Cuadrado, in favour of Shakhtar Donetsk playmaker Douglas Costa. The Blues are reportedly prepared to pay £20 million for the latter, per Ed Aarons and Dominic Fifield of The Guardian.

The pair report Chelsea have already made enquiries about the Brazilian schemer, although they also note Shakhtar would want £30 million before sanctioning any sale. At the moment though, Costa is seen as an alternative to proposed £26.8 million target Cuadrado.

There’s some logic to that thinking in the sense Costa is also a tricky attacker who can thrive out wide. However, he’s different to Cuadrado in terms of being more comfortable on the ball.

Where Cuadrado will look to run at defenders and overwhelm them with direct pace and natural power, Costa is a pass-and-move player. He plays a combination game that would work well with Chelsea’s creator-in-chief Cesc Fabregas.

That may suit the more fluid and expansive game manager Jose Mourinho‘s team is playing this season. The Portuguese boss could take advantage of Costa’s desire to move to Stamford Bridge.

Aarons and Fifield cited the player calling the prospect “a dream” and “a unique opportunity,” during an interview with Brazilian publication Globo Esporte. If Costa is so anxious to leave, he could force Shakhtar into accepting Chelsea’s preferred fee.

That would be the best scenario for the Blues for those unconvinced by Costa’s quality. Consider this tweet from Brazil Stats:

A Chelsea move for Costa would surely quash any more talk about Cuadrado. Another report from Fifield and Aarons stated talks continue between Chelsea and Fiorentina. In fact, the reporters suggest Chelsea are making room for Cuadrado by agreeing a six-month loan switch for Mohamed Salah to AS Roma.

For his part, Mourinho has been trying to downplay the Cuadrado rumours. He repeatedly tried to deflect the issue during his latest press conference, as ESPN reporter Miguel Delaney detailed:

Mourinho has also even tried to claim he’s content with his current wide options, including fringe player Andre Schurrle. The Chelsea gaffer stated it would require a “phenomenal offer” before he sells the little-used Germany international, per BBC Sport.

Yet this sounds more like Mourinho attempting to hike the price for a player clearly surplus to requirements. Recently, Mail Online reporter Simon Jones stated Bundesliga club Wolfsburg are ready to offer £23 million, but Chelsea will hold out for £30 million. Mourinho‘s latest words seem like the next step in that plan.

What is clear is that Mourinho is certainly testing the water and casting a wide net in an attempt to freshen things up out wide. Whether the solution he envisages is Cuadrado or Costa remains to be seen.

It also remains to be seen if Mourinho will ever be reunited with Raphael Varane. It was Mourinho who gave the ultra-talented centre-back his big break at Real Madrid.

That’s kept transfer rumours alive during the past two seasons. The latest murmurings have even suggested Mourinho would ditch Varane‘s fellow countryman Kurt Zouma to make way for his former Los Blancos prodigy.

 

Daily Express reporter Anthony Chapman suggested the Blues would let Zouma join Serie A side Inter Milan on loan if they could land Varane. But Mourinho appears to have rubbished any such idea by stating how happy he is with Zouma‘s progress and ruling out a loan move this month, per ChelseaFC.com:

We bought a talent but that talent was far from ready and at the beginning of the season people were thinking it would be better for him to go somewhere [on loan] and play, but we thought it was better for him to stay and learn here in this habitat where for sure he will be a player for many years. We are very happy with him.

Those comments also coincide with reports of an injury Varane recently sustained in Copa del Rey action. Daily Express writer Anthony Chapman reported the 21-year-old tore a muscle during the cup exit against neighbours Atletico Madrid.

For his part, B/R’s Garry Hayes doesn’t see an imminent move for Varane as very likely:

Although Hayes wisely notes how the Blues could use a young centre-back of Varane‘s quality, particularly amid Gary Cahill’s struggles, it’s safe to assume Varane won’t be leaving the Spanish capital just yet.

Instead, you should focus on what Mourinho does to freshen up his team’s options on the flanks.

from Bleacher Report – Front Page http://ift.tt/1z2o1uJ
via IFTTT http://ift.tt/eA8V8J