Chelsea are set to make a shock move for Manchester City flop Stevan Jovetic, per Paul Hetherington of the Daily Star.
The Montenegro striker is on loan in Italy with Inter Milan, with the Serie A club reportedly legally committed to signing the player in the summer.
The Milan giants initially agreed to a £2 million loan fee for the 26-year-old in order to keep him at the club for the 2015-16 campaign, with an additional £12.5 million deal signed to take him on board full-time.
However, following his season-long stay at the San Siro, Inter are now no longer interested in keeping the player at the club and are seeking buyers.
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Per Hetherington, incoming Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte is an admirer of the attacking playmaker in spite of his inconsistencies and twice tried to sign him from Fiorentina during his time as Juventus manager.
Following a failed venture into English football with Manchester City, Jovetic—purchased for £23 million in 2013—was sent back to Italy after Inter offered him an escape road.
However, his return to Serie A has gone equally as badly. Per WhoScored.com, the forward has scored just six goals in 23 appearances in the league this season and is well down in the pecking order behind club captain Mauro Icardi.
Jovetic chose the right time to impress possible suitors on Saturday, as he was given a rare start at the Giuseppe Meazza and scored twice to help his side come from behind to secure a 3-1 win over Udinese.
Inter’s official Twitter account almost sounded surprised to see Jovetic’s name on the scoresheet twice:
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Udinese have taken a battering from the Montenegro international this term, as detailed by WhoScored.com:
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Conte is reportedly unfazed by Jovetic’s £90,000-per-week contract at City and is prepared to take a chance on the striker despite a paltry return of eight goals in 30 appearances during his time at the Etihad, per Soccerway.
One Inter player who looks unlikely to be joining Stamford Bridge this summer is central defender Jeison Murillo, per Rai Sport (h/t Goal.com’s Joe Wright).
The Colombia international has voiced his intent to remain at Inter, despite speculation surrounding a possible move to the Premier League.
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The powerful centre-half shone at last summer’s Copa America and produced an excellent defensive display when faced against Brazil’s Neymar during their group-stage clash.
The 23-year-old has continued that form into this term and is one of Inter boss Roberto Mancini’s key first-team members.
Per Calcio Mercato (h/t Metro’s Max Miller), Italy boss Conte attended Inter’s 2-0 win over Napoli last week in order to cast a watchful eye over his performance firsthand.
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However, per Wright, Murillo has denied the rumours linking him with a move away, as he told Rai Sport: “I want to stay at Inter. I am an Inter player and am not thinking about the future right now.
“Coming to Serie A has really helped me improve, although it was difficult at first to adapt to a very tactical and physical league.”
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is expected to hand Conte a war chest when the Italian takes over as Chelsea manager after Euro 2016, with the club enduring an awful campaign in 2015-16 after achieving a Premier League and League Cup double under Jose Mourinho last season.
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