Although Chelsea is suffering from a UEFA ban that prevents the club from signing new players for 18 months, the club has not completely withdrawn from the transfer market. The club's sports director, Aanessen, recently confirmed that they have their eyes on three Benfica stars - Angel Di Maria, Fabio Coentrao, and Javi Garcia. If Chelsea plans to sign all three in one deal, the total amount would be around 30 million euros.
In an interview with Portuguese journalists, Di Maria said: "I am only thinking about Benfica at the moment and looking forward to tomorrow's game (the second leg of the Europa League against Everton). They are strong, but we are in our best form. This match will definitely be different from the one in Lisbon. I need to perform at my best level in the club first, then we'll see what happens."
Besides Benfica, Chelsea is also keeping an eye on another key player, Fabiano, who plays for Sevilla. Sevilla's coach, Jimenez, expressed his concern over reports indicating Chelsea's interest in his trusted player, Fabiano.
Actually, contacts with these three players started back in the summer. All three have long-term contracts with Benfica, so there won't be any possibility of free transfers like Alex's case in the past. However, as the former chief scout and current sports director of the club, Aanessen admitted that there is still a long way to go before reaching a substantive deal. He emphasized that despite the current ban, the club will not abandon such promising transfer targets. In an interview with the Portuguese newspaper 'O Jogo', Aanessen said: "These are all excellent players, but we need to understand the details, such as where exactly they excel."
The biggest substantial issue lies in whether the ban can be lifted early or postponed. Currently, Chelsea has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and we will see the results later. Aanessen said: "The club is indeed waiting for the next decision regarding transfers to determine when we can strengthen our team." Similarly to Aanessen's statement of interest, Benfica also stressed that they have not received any offers.
The Brazilian was originally a key target tracked by AC Milan for a long time, but the summer negotiations eventually failed. Now, the new pursuer has become Chelsea. Although Jimenez is confident that Fabiano's heart beats with the Andalusian club, the club president Del Nido knows that a transfer fee of around 30 million euros means nothing to Chelsea but is significant for his own club. Therefore, he isn't particularly keen on keeping Fabiano, a Brazilian international who is masterful both in scoring and assisting goals. However, Del Nido said: "I prefer to keep him until the end of this season and hope he can score 40 goals for us."
To such rumors, Argentine midfielder Di Maria reacted indifferently. Recently, his popularity in Britain has increased due to his hat-trick assist performance in the last round of the Europa League against Everton, which helped his team crush Everton 5-0. Di Maria has gained some intuitive understanding of British football, but currently, he is only focusing on the upcoming matches. He doesn't even care about the possible big-money transfer, let alone many players' dream of catching the World Cup bus with Maradona.
(Meng Wei)
Related thematic articles:
http://www.rr1122.cn_ Real Madrid's coach wants to save the player, but the player does not appreciate it. Was it deserved to dismiss several wrongfully used people?
Crown System_AC Milan's former defensive隐患has been eliminated because of one person. An own goal cannot obscure the defensive dominance.
Crown Football Betting Network_Real Madrid's potential young star once again flopped in a big comeback drama. Why is the team so brave in the league but weak in European competitions?
Champions League - Ronaldo's equaling Pato's goal was disallowed. AC Milan 1-1 Real Madrid_http://www.rr1122.cn
http://www.rr1122.cn_Juventus chairman praised the new stadium opening a new era, the first in the 100-year history of Serie A.