Chelsea lodged a £27m bid with Zenit St Petersburg for midfielder Leandro Paredes as they pursue a replacement for Cesc Fabregas, claims talkSPORT.
The 31-year-old Spaniard moved to AS Monaco on a 2½ year deal last week as Blues coach Maurizio Sarri seeks to rejuvenate his squad. Currently fourth in the table, the Italian is determined to turn Chelsea back into title challengers.
Paredes is one of those targets identified by Sarri and with Fabregas out of the door, the West London club acted swiftly to make a move for the 24-year-old. However, the move is far from complete with Zenit reportedly unwilling to allow the prodigious talent to leave before next summer.
The Argentinean left Boca Juniors for Chievo in 2013 before a peripatetic career took him to Roma, Empoli and back to the Eternal City. Zenit called in 2017 and for the first time since leaving Boca, Paredes enjoyed regular first-team football.
Fans debating whether to sign Paredes or Nicolo Barella received the hint of a deal when Paredes hinted his future might be in West London:
Blues fans reacted excitedly at the prospect of the Argentinean’s arrival. However, that may be premature with no sign Zenit are willing to do a deal just yet. Leandro, with nine international caps to his name, may need to jostle his current employers to get a deal completed this month.
