Second Chelsea bid for Alex Scott revealed with Blues ready to rake in £90m from sale of trio | OneFootball

Chelsea have prepared a new offer to attempt to persuade Bournemouth to sell Alex Scott to them this summer, according to reports.

The Blues finished tenth in the Premier League last season as they sacked Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior in a turbulent campaign at Stamford Bridge.

After hiring Xabi Alonso as their new head coach this summer, Chelsea have gone in a bit of a different direction with the imminent signings of Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson.

Chelsea had made signing players under 25 with potential sell-on value their transfer policy but they have slightly moved away from that this year.

Scott has emerged as their top target as they look to sign a new midfielder with a first bid of around £64m was rejected by Bournemouth, who have no intention of selling the former England Under-21 international.

And now Caught Offside have revealed that Chelsea are ‘preparing an improved bid of around £70m’ for Scott as they look to test the Cherries’ resolve.

Their move for former Liverpool midfielder Henderson, who has been released by Brentford, ‘won’t affect the club’s desire to bring in another younger player in that area of their squad.’

And now a source has told the website that Chelsea are ‘prepared to try again for around £70m’ for Scott, while Liverpool are still lurking for the 22-year-old.

The source said: “Chelsea have done the most work on Alex Scott so far. They’re prepared to try again for around £70m, but that’s also probably going to be rejected by Bournemouth.

“Let’s see, but other clubs could still come into the conversation. Andoni Iraola knows the player well and is a big fan, so I wouldn’t rule out Liverpool.”

Chelsea head coach Alonso has admitted that the Blues will have to sell some centre-backs this summer after confirming Maxence Lacroix as their latest new signing.

When asked about his preferred number of centre-backs, Alonso said: “Four or five. Is that accurate enough?”

Three centre-backs to leave Chelsea?

Speaking about Lacroix, he added: “He has a strong personality. He’s mature, he wants to win and he has a winner’s mentality. As well, he loves to defend and that’s something I like too.”

As well as relaying Alonso’s quotes, BBC Sport revealed: ‘Mamadou Sarr is also at the club but is expected to leave on loan, while Trevoh Chalobah, Benoit Badiashile and Axel Disasi are available for sale having been valued at £35m, £30m and £25m respectively. Chalobah is not yet back after England World Cup duty and the other two are training away from the first-team group.’