Report: Chelsea ready to beat Man Utd to signing Portuguese star, told to pay £87m

In accordance with The Solar, Chelsea are planning to beat Manchester United to the signing of Benfica defender Antonio Silva after scouting him.

The London giants strengthened their central defence final 12 months with the purchases of Benoit Badiashile and Axel Disasi, however they’re eyeing one other high quality recruit to succeed Thiago Silva within the squad. As per The Solar, Silva has been recognized as their precedence goal however he gained’t come on a budget this month.

Chelsea not too long ago made a proposal to signal the defender for £52 million with Armando Broja appearing as a makeweight however the proposal was snubbed by Benfica. The Portuguese giants have made it clear that the Blues must set off the £87 million launch clause within the contract of Silva to signal him this winter.

Large expertise

Silva made his debut for Benfica in September 2022 and has since developed into probably the most sought-after younger defenders in European soccer. He possess robust distribution abilities and has accomplished 93% of his passes this season. He has additionally gained 66% of his duels whereas making 2.8 tackles and 6.8 recoveries per outing.

The 20-year-old has all of the traits to change into a world-class centre-back within the coming seasons. Man United have been linked with him in latest weeks, however they’re unlikely to afford his signature this month with their Monetary Truthful Play issues in addition to the anticipated delay over the approval of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s minority stake.

Chelsea have related FFP considerations too after the lavish spending in the previous few switch home windows, however they might half methods with the likes of Trevoh Chalobah, Ian Maatsen and probably Conor Gallagher to steadiness their books. Chelsea signed Enzo Fernandez from Benfica in a long-term cost plan final winter the place they agreed a better payment than his launch clause. They might try to do one thing just like prise away Silva from the Lisbon heavyweights. We gained’t be shocked if the switch saga drags till deadline day with the Blues needing to recoup funds from participant gross sales first.