Marcus Rashford’s future could affect Chelsea’s chase of 16 year old Croatia based talent | OneFootball

Mundo Deportivo have written a piece today all about Marcus Rashford’s time at Barcelona.

The England star has made a good start to life in Spain on loan from Manchester United, and there’s already talk about him signing for them permanently. They’re just not quite sure how to afford it. But also featured in the piece were some links to Cardoso Varela.

Chelsea chase sensational teen talent

Cardoso Varela playing for Dinamo Zagreb. (Photo by Diogo Cardoso/Getty Images for DFB)

The 16 year old former Porto youth took the risk of a move to Croatia, which has already paid off as he’s getting starts for Dinamo Zagreb despite his tender years. They speculate he would cost just €5m, but that will be rising rapidly.

“In addition to Barcelona, Chelsea are another club keeping a close eye on Cardoso Varela,” they write.

“The Blues are carefully tracking the Portuguese youngster and could compete with Barça for his signature if the Catalan club decide to move forward. Cardoso Varela is under contract with Dinamo Zagreb until June 2028.”

We have some serious competition in the form of Barcelona – they’ve recently met his representatives, and he visited their training ground. But if they choose to pursue Rashford full force, that could create a chance for us. A low cost bid for a talented young attacker fits perfectly with our current transfer strategy.

Expect to see him at Strasbourg soon if we do…

In other news…

Chelsea are working out their best attacking options for this weekend’s game against Nottingham Forest, and we reckon Alejandro Garnacho is an increasingly big part of Enzo Maresca’s plans.

Another option would be to play Marc Guiu up top, with Joao Pedro as a number 10. Both options are likely on Enzo Maresca’s mind as we approach Saturday’s early kick off against Nottingham Forest.