Chelsea have made a €50 million offer for Ajax’s Edson Alvarez, according to reports.
Thomas Tuchel’s side have a day left to complete all of their summer transfer business and following the announcement of Wesley Fofana’s arrival on Wednesday, they want more signings.
Chelsea have issues in midfield. N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are both nursing injuries, while Mateo Kovacic is slowly returning to full fitness after a knee problem.
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Tuchel admitted that they are light in midfield on Tuesday night, but remained coy if they would dip into the transfer market to strengthen in that department.
"Hamstring injury, next midfielder out,” said Tuchel on Loftus-Cheek after their 2-1 defeat at Southampton.
“No one left. Recommendation for Kovacic was 20 minutes. I also don’t understand why we are in this situation regarding injuries, all players in midfield. Need to find solutions."
Chelsea are appearing to let Billy Gilmour leave the club with Brighton leading the race, as reported by The Telegraph, to land the Scottish international on a permanent deal.
Now with his departure impending, reports from Mike Verweij in Holland, he claims Chelsea have now made a €50 million bid for Alvarez.
He is a defensive midfielder who can also play in central defence, offering the Blues versatility.
Alvarez has demanded Ajax enter into talks with Chelsea over a transfer, with the 24-year-old keen on a switch to the Premier League.
Ajax's current position is that no one is allowed to leave amid #Chelsea's bid for Edson Alvarez. After not being allowed to join Rennes or Newcastle, Alvarez now wants to leave. He wonders if an opportunity in the Premier League will ever come again.
Tuchel was coy on new signings after the defeat ahead of Thursday's 11pm (BST) deadline.
"If we need players from outside? We can play better with the guys who are here.
"The biggest concern at the moment is how many players we are missing from our squad. That’s where the focus is."
He added: "What it reminded me of was Juventus last season. We played a fantastic match last season but then we had Chilly out for eight months and Kante out for three months.
"We had a fantastic match against Tottenham but then our key player is out for six weeks.
"Conor is out. Ruben has injury. Mateo Kovacic has an injury from pre-season and Reece wasn't here today.
"With our demands, it's simply like that. It would be more important if these key players are missing, we need to show a different mentality."
Topics: Chelsea, Ajax, Premier League
Matthew Debono