Explosive Chelsea swap deal talks ramp up as Fabrizio Romano reveals Pochettino U-turn
Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea
Chelsea have seemingly performed something of a U-turn over the addition of Dusan Vlahovic with talks over a swap deal with Juventus rapidly gathering pace, Fabrizio Romano claims.
The Serbian striker moved to the Allianz Arena back in January 2022, opting for the Bianconeri ahead of rival interest from Arsenal. Paying Fiorentina an initial fee of €70m, the towering Serb has gone on to score 23 goals in 63 appearances for Juventus.
However, with the Old Lady having been punished with a ban from all European competition in the upcoming season, the club are having to carefully manage their finances. And a number of their top earners, including both Vlahovic and Paul Pogba, are seemingly being made available for transfer.
In light of this news, both Chelsea and PSG were initially linked with moves for the 23-year-old star.
However, despite holding initial talks around the prospective deal, Chelsea’s interest in Vlahovic waned as the club pursued alternative targets.
Juventus, though, knowing Vlahovic has not quite lived up to expectations, remain determined to offload the star. And with Romelu Lukaku making clear he wants to leave Chelsea, Juve are making the Belgian – who boasts an excellent goals record in Italy – their No 1 summer target.
The Blues made a one-time club-record £97.5m to sign Lukaku from Inter back in summer 2021, but it’s fair to see his return to Stamford Bridge has not gone to plan. Voicing his unhappiness from the off did not go down well with then boss Thomas Tuchel and it was little surprise when he was allowed to return to Inter on loan last summer.
Fabrizio Romano talks up Chelsea and Juventus swap deal
With Chelsea now open to Lukaku’s permanent exit for a fee in the region of €45m (£38.9m), Juve are stepping up their quest to get a deal done.
And the Old Lady hope to finance the deal by sending Vlahovic in the opposite direction, which, according to reports, Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino is now open to the idea of.
Fabrizio Romano, meanwhile, has had his say on the developments and confirms talks over the explosive swap are taking place.
“We also have to mention what is going on between Chelsea and Juventus because on Monday through intermediaries Chelsea and Juventus had a new round of talks and in these discussions Juventus are insisting to include Dusan Vlahovic as a part of the negotiations for Romelu Lukaku.
“One month ago Chelsea said no to Vlahovic,” Romano told his YouTube channel. “It was very clear no because they don’t like the player, but there is someone on the Chelsea board who really appreciates the player.”
Pochettino, meanwhile, has previously indicated his willingness to bring in a new striker despite already adding Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku to his attack.
“I am so happy with both and we have younger players like Mason [Burstow] today and [Armando] Broja in the UK recovering from his procedure. We need to analyze now in the next weeks until the transfer window closes. We will take the best decision for the team,” he said.
Chelsea need Lukaku resolution quickly
Truth be told, there is litle point keeping an unhappy Lukaku and the sooner he is gone the better for Chelsea. Having been left behind on their recent US tour and left to train alone, the situation needs resolving quickly.
And while Vlahovic has not worked out at Juventus, there is absolutely a great player in there who could thrive under Pochettino’s system.
One pundit who is a huge admirer of his talents is Micah Richards.
Discussing the player earlier in his career, the Match of the Day pundit stated: “Lightning. It’s ridiculous. He has got 16 in 18 this season. His left foot is like a wand. I am telling you now, he is everything, he is everything you need.”
