Fabrizio Romano is coming into his peak weeks of the year, as clubs all over the world get into gear for their summer business.
Chelsea look like they’ll have some major moves to come, but their first port of call is securing a backup striker to help out up top. On their list at the moment seems to be Jhon Duran from Aston Villa, and according to Romano we’re making steady progress towards signing him.
What Romano’s quotes make very clear is that Chelsea are pushing hard here – this isn’t something they’ve got on the back burner, waiting to see how the summer plays out. This is a priority move for them, and they want it completed as soon as possible.
Quotes from the very top
“Staying with Chelsea, conversations are also ongoing between them and Aston Villa, and the agents of Jhon Duran about the contract, the salary, the commission, so the entire package is being discussed but important clubs are preparing to enter the race,” Fabrizio Romano wrote for CaughtOffside in his exclusive Daily Briefing.
“For now Chelsea are still considered a favourite because they know the player wants to go to there, and it’s on them to agree personal terms and agents fee.”
Much like with Nicolas Jackson last year, it’s clear that getting Duran and any other relatively straightforward business wrapped up as soon as possible is essential. There’s likely to be at least one move that turns into a summer-long saga that takes up the majority of our co-sporting directors’ bandwidth, so it’s desirable to get the easy stuff wrapped up before that.
The idea that “important clubs” are about to make things more difficult, and more expensive, only increases the urgency Chelsea are likely feeling at the moment.
