According to reports, Premier League side Chelsea have ‘agreed a £23.5m deal’ with Ligue 1 outfit Rennes to sign midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu.
The 19-year-old is another young talent set to be snapped up by Chelsea and he will be their fifth summer signing. They have already spent around £96m to sign Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Angelo and Diego Moreira.
Ugochukwu has been a regular in Ligue 1 for Rennes over the past couple of years as he has made 60 appearances across all competitions.
Several outlets are now reporting that he is heading to Stamford Bridge. The Athletic have stated that ‘Chelsea have reached an agreement worth around €27.5million (£23.5m) for the 19-year-old and a medical is scheduled for the next 24 hours’.
They added: ‘Ugochukwu has also agreed personal terms with Chelsea and will sign a long-term contract with the west London club.
‘It is undecided at this stage whether Ugochukwu will go straight into the first-team squad or go on loan.’
This has been backed up by transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, who is reporting that Ugochukwu is ‘on the verge’ of signing for Chelsea.
The defensive midfielder is ‘set to be excluded by Rennes’ for their friendly against West Ham on Saturday afternoon. With a deal to be completed ‘in the next hours, the player and club ‘don’t want to take any risks’.
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Ugochukwu is an important signing for Chelsea following the exits of Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek but they will be desperate to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton.
Chelsea’s latest £80m bid for the Ecuador international has been rejected by the Seagulls, who are holding out for around £100m.
On Friday, The Times reported that Caicedo is planning to ‘ask’ Brighton to lower their asking price. They stated.
‘Moises Caicedo and his representatives will seek further talks with Brighton & Hove Albion to try to persuade the club to bring their asking price down from £100 million.
‘Chelsea had a bid of £80 million for Caicedo rejected on Thursday and Brighton’s hard stance is a source of growing frustration for the 21-year-old. Chelsea have now had three bids for Caicedo knocked back. All three would have guaranteed Brighton a huge profit on a player they signed for £4.5 million in 2021.
‘It remains to be seen whether Chelsea return with an improved proposal or turn their attention to other targets. They have a long-standing interest in the Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia, as do Liverpool and Arsenal.’
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