The first player Chelsea’s new owner, Todd Boehly, wants to sign for the club has been revealed.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Chelsea plans to make Barcelona star, Ousmane Dembele, their first signing of the Boehly era.
Dembele is out of contract next month with Barcelona and has a host of suitors, including Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United.
Barcelona still retains a slim hope of agreeing to a new deal with Dembele, but their perilous financial situation renders that unlikely and Chelsea are now in a position to pounce.
Dembele came close to leaving Barcelona in January before a dramatic late U-turn and played a key role in his side’s improvement under manager Xavi which helped secure Champions League qualification.
However, Chelsea are ‘quietly confident’ of beating the likes of PSG, among others, to the signing of the France international this summer.
The Blues are ready to do business again with Boehly’s £4.25billion takeover due to finally go through on Monday, having been operating under a special licence from the UK Government since previous owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned in March.
Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel, is keen to strengthen in a number of areas over the summer, yet doubts over Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic’s futures mean attacking reinforcements are top of the agenda.
Tuchel worked with Dembele during their time at Borussia Dortmund.