Chelsea ‘offer’ £69m for Barcelona star with ‘medical completed’ for fifth summer signing | OneFootball

Atalanta defender Marco Palestra has completed his medical to sign for Chelsea as the Blues make an offer for a Barcelona star, according to reports.

Chelsea went through two different permanent managers last season as both Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior were sacked as the Blues ended the season in tenth position in the Premier League.

The Blues may be hampered in their attempts to sign some top-class players without Champions League or other European football next season.

But Chelsea have already got four signings over the line this summer as they continue buying young players with Sporting CP’s Geovany Quenda, Corinthians’ Denner, Kairat Almaty’s Dastan Satpaev and Strasbourg’s Emmanuel Emegha all joining.

And now Chelsea are closing in on their fifth deal with Palestra about to sign from Atalanta in a deal worth over €50m, as Fabrizio Romano confirmed last week.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano said: “Chelsea are closing every detail of the deal for Marco Palestra. A ‘here we go’ is coming! Chelsea and Atalanta have an agreement in place for a transfer fee, a total package over €50 million plus a sell-on clause. So Chelsea have accepted to include also a sell-on clause as part of the deal.

“Atalanta wanted this sell-on clause from Inter at the beginning and now also from Chelsea, because they believe that Palestra one day could be worth well in excess of €55m or €60m, and so they wanted this sell-on clause to be included. And now everything is in place on the transfer fee and on the sell-on clause.

“The player late night gave his green light to go to Chelsea. So basically, what he said to Atalanta is, ‘Sell me where you prefer, Inter or Chelsea. Both projects are appealing, attracting to me.’ This is what Palestra communicated to his agents, and Atalanta decided to send the player to Chelsea because they’re offering way more than Inter. Inter are not matching the Chelsea bid. For Inter, the deal was being closed at €45m plus €5m in add-ons.

“While Inter were closing the deal—they had a meeting just 12 hours ago in order to close the Palestra deal, to plan for the medical test, to celebrate the signing to replace Denzel Dumfries—well, in that moment, Chelsea entered the deal, hijacked the move, and went all-in for Palestra.

“So, congratulations to Chelsea because they’re about to add a fantastic player to their squad. He can play as a right wing-back, he can play as a left wing-back. I told you, if you remember, when Marc Cucurella got sold to Real Madrid, Chelsea were looking for that kind of player who can cover both wings, and Palestra is very interesting. He’s very young, very fast, very talented, so he could be an excellent addition.

“Also, Xabi Alonso got involved in this deal. Alonso had a direct conversation with Palestra, and so for Xabi, it’s for sure a very interesting addition.”

Medical for fifth Chelsea signing and another ‘offer’ launched

After flying to London from Milan on Thursday evening, Tuttomercatoweb insists that Palestra ‘underwent a medical, which he passed’ and is now closing in on a move to Stamford Bridge.

The report adds: ‘Chelsea are currently finalising the final bureaucratic details before officially signing a player strongly desired by new manager Xabi Alonso. A €5 million net contract has been agreed with the international, running until June 30, 2032. The six-year deal, plus an option for the following season, is for a player long pursued by Inter Milan, who will instead continue his career in the Premier League.’

And now reports in Spain are claiming that Chelsea have ‘offered’ Barcelona €80m (£69m) to sign Pau Cubarsi this summer.

However, the ‘offer was immediately dismissed at Spotify Camp Nou’ with the report adding: ‘Barça consider Cubarsí absolutely essential , a list that also includes Lamine Yamal, Eric Garcia, Joan Garcia, Fermín López or Pedri González, and they will not negotiate with any other team.

‘So the only way the number ‘5’ can end up at Chelsea, or any other club, is by paying the full amount listed in his release clause.’