Chelsea are reportedly chasing after Lille midfielder, Thiago Mendes for a bargain £26m deal this summer.
This, of course, is in consideration of the Blues’ transfer ban getting postponed by one window. Highly reliable journalist, Duncan Castles revealed on the transfer podcast that Mendes has been on Chelsea’s shortlist for a long time now.
He said, “It’s a player that Chelsea have been watching for quite a while actually, but they’ve made some enquiries as to his availability and what his financial demands would be to join them, and that’s Thiago Mendes, the Lille midfielder who has been part of their extremely oppressive French championship season where they look set to finish second in the French league.
“They recently beat Paris St-Germain 5-1 at home to stall Paris St-Germain’s crowning as the French champions again. He is one of several players in the Lille squad who Lille are ready to sell this summer if they get good offers for.
“He’s been of interest to a number of Premier League clubs last summer, I think West Ham, Newcastle and Crystal Palace were looking at him. Didn’t put together the money Lille required to take him.
“He’s now a candidate for also Everton. They were considering him in January when it looked possible that Paris St-Germain might take Idrissa Gueye from them and they saw Thiago as a potential replacement for Gueye.”
Mendes plays in the defensive midfield post and Chelsea have been needing a backup option for N’Golo Kante for some time now. Tiemoue Bakayoko is expected to complete a permanent move to AC Milan this summer and Danny Drinkwater might just be sold off for practically nothing.
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