Here are some of the major Chelsea transfer news from across the web in the past 24 hours:
Chelsea midfielder may quit to join PL rivals
Antonio Conte’s biggest problem will not be winning titles at Chelsea, nor guiding them to Europe triumph, but to integrate top young academy prospects at the club. This is a serious problem that has plagued the club for years.
Chelsea have a vast pool of exciting young talents (read as the mighty loan army), but surprisingly few (or hardly any) managers have shown the temerity to harness their potential properly.
Conte is resigned to lose one of Chelsea’s highly rated teenage midfielder, before taking his job. Domingos Quina, the Under 17 Portugal attacking midfielder could leave the club for nothing in the summer.
According to reports from The Times, Quina didn’t return to Chelsea after returning to London from international duty. He intends to train on his own, until he finds another club.
Chelsea believe that the player has already agreed to join one of their Barclays Premier League rivals. Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool have all monitored the player’s performance and have sent scouts to watch him play for his country against Croatia.
The Blues have invested three years in developing Quina after signing him from Benfica as a 13-year-old, but are resigned to lose him for free, as he had signed only scholarship terms. FA won’t allow him to sign a professional contract until his 17th birthday.
Quina prefers to play in the #10 role and his dribbling skills have attracted the attention of other heavy weight Premier League clubs.
Diego Costa to Atletico
Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone wants to bring Chelsea striker Diego Costa back to Spain. The Argentine is likely to approach Costa personally in coming weeks and should he receive good vibes, the Spanish club will make a formal offer for the Chelsea striker in the summer.
Costa’s future at the club largely depends on what the would-be-new-Chelsea-manager Conte thinks about him. Does he rate him highly Does he feel that Costa, who reportedly earns around £185k-per-week, is the right man to lead his attacking line In case, the Italian doesn’t consider him as his first choice, Chelsea would demand around £28m for Costa. The striker will be more than happy to rejoin his former manager.
Chelsea youngster Ake wanted by German club
German giants Borussia Monchengladbach is keen to seal a move for Chelsea’s 21-year-old defender Nathan Ake.
According to reports, Chelsea are looking to cut short the loan of Andreas Christensen at Gladbach, and the Blues are ready to offer Ake instead.
The young defender impressed during his loan spell with Watford, and will demand around £10m should they decide to sell him permanently.
Gary Staker spotted in the stands
Although Conte didn’t reveal publicly about his future move (we do know that he will not remain with the Italy national team after the Euros) but it’s an open secret that he will move to Chelsea this summer.
Italy were playing Spain in a friendly on Thursday night where Gary Staker, Chelsea’s player liaison officer, was spotted in the stands.
Marotta on Cuadrado, Chelsea targets
Juventus director Giuseppe Marotta said:
“It makes us proud that our players are being linked with some of Europe’s biggest clubs, but Juventus are a big team as well. We have players who have all signed long-term contracts and have no desire to leave for other clubs.”
On Cuadrado:
“The situation of Cuadrado is slightly different. He is on loan from Chelsea, so we will have to talk with Chelsea about him to see what happens.”