Chelsea are now turning their attention towards Inter Milan defender Denzel Dumfries amid their failed move for Jules Kounde, according to reports.
Thomas Tuchel’s side have spent most of the summer chasing Kounde from Sevilla, having failed to sign him last year.
They soon resumed their interest in the centre-back ahead of the forthcoming season but have faced strong competition from Barcelona for his signature, and it now seems as though he is off to the Camp Nou.
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A Chelsea move for the 23-year-old reportedly came to a standstill, with Kounde now set to make the switch from Sevilla to the Catalan side.
As a result, the Blues will now have to work on other targets throughout the rest of the window as they continue their defensive rebuild.
Milan Skriniar, Presnel Kimpembe and Josko Gvardiol have all been revealed as potential names for the Blues, but new reports suggest they could focus on a different player this summer.
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According to the Evening Standard, Tuchel’s side are ‘switching focus’ to Inter’s Dumfries.
It is said that the Italian outfit, who re-signed Romelu Lukaku on a loan deal from the Blues earlier in the window, need to sell one of their major players this summer.
Chelsea have looked at Skriniar although Paris Saint-Germain are highly interested in the Slovakian international, with Inter also receiving approaches for Dumfries, a player who they would prefer to sell.
Manchester United are also believed to be keen on the 26-year-old.
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La Gazzetta dello Sport have reported on Chelsea’s interest too, saying the west London side have made ‘fresh contact’ with Dumfries’ current club in order to find out his availability.
Inter would want no less than €40 million for the Dutch international, who Tuchel wanted to be included in a deal for Lukaku.
Dumfries joined the Serie A side from PSV last year after an impressive Euro 2020 campaign with the Netherlands in the summer.
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He made 45 appearances in all competitions for the side, scoring five goals and providing seven assists from right wing-back.
A move could see him arrive as Chelsea’s third signing of the summer, following Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly to Stamford Bridge.
Tuchel spoke on the need for improvements to the squad after their 4-0 defeat to Arsenal in pre-season when he said: “The analysing of the season does not change because of this game. Unfortunately, it proved my point and the last week proves my point.
“I would prefer to not be right and I did everything to prove myself wrong, but at the moment I feel I was right when I look at the last season and at the parts of the game where we struggled and how we struggled.
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"We got sanctioned and players left us, we know that some players are trying to leave us, and this is where it is. We had an urgent appeal for quality players and a huge amount of quality players. We've got two quality players – that is no doubt – but we are not competitive like this and unfortunately, we could see it today."
Topics: Chelsea, Chelsea Transfer News & Rumours
Robert Calcutt