Chelsea Lodge 'Official Offer' For Bayern Munich Player

It's not the first time a Bayern Munich player has attracted interest from Chelesa, but the defending Premier League champions have now submitted an official transfer offer.

Earlier in the transfer window, Arturo Vidal has strongly linked with a move to Stamford Bridge as Antonio Conte was hoping to reunite with the Chilean midfielder at Chelsea.

_{Conte passing on instructions to one of his new arrivals. Image: PA}

Not to mention Robert Lewandowski. Though those crazy rumours were quickly put to bed by the Bayern board. And Chelsea are now interested in another Bayern player, with the club following up their initial interest by tabling an offer.

According to reports from German outlet Bild, Chelsea have lodged a bid for Rafinha. Conte is still in the market for new additions as he seeks for reinforcements.

_{Rafinha in action for Bayern against Chelsea during pre-season. Image: PA}

The English champions have already splashed the cash on new defensive talent in Antonio Rudiger. A £34 million offer prised him away from the Serie A outfit, with Conte eyeing up more.

It appears his pursuit for Arsenal's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has come to an end following the player rejecting a move to West London. The 24-year-old is reportedly keen on a move to Liverpool, instead.

_{Oxlade-Chamberlain contesting the ball with Moses. Image: PA}

So with Oxlade-Chamberlain in the rear view mirror, Conte is now setting his sights on Rafinha. The Brazilian is set to play second fiddle to Joshua Kimmich this campaign with just 23 minutes of Bundesliga action under his belt so far.

Despite first-team opportunities drying up, Carlo Ancelotti is hoping to hold onto him as back-up to Kimmich.

_{Rafinha celebrates with Kimmich. Image: PA}

During the summer, Rafinha had hoped to get into Ancelotti's plans while conceding it may not look like that.

"I hope I'll be even more active this season. I have the quality for that. I'm here to do a lot of games. But it does not look like that at the moment," Rafinha said via Bild.

The 31-year-old will unlikely break into Conte's starting XI, but, just like his role at the Allianz Arena, he'll provide back-up.

Topics: Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Antonio Conte

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado, and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping and Anthony Joshua. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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