Chelsea Closing in on Deal to Sign Tiemoué Bakayoko
A number of clubs have been keeping an eye on Tiemoué Bakayoko after his outstanding season with Monaco, but Chelsea may have won the race to sign him.
According to French journalist Mohamed Bouhafsi, the Blues have agreed to pay Monaco a transfer fee of €40 million (around £35.2 million) to bring Bakayoko to West London. The Daily Mail has also reported the same thing.
The deal hasn't been made official yet by either club, so readers are advised to take this with a grain of salt for now.
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Bakayoko is a promising, but relatively unproven player who earned his first call-up to France's senior squad earlier this year. He has been drawing a lot of interest because of his role as a key member of Monaco's Ligue 1-winning squad and he has a lot of suitors lining up to sign him. Chelsea have been stepping up their efforts to sign the physically imposing defensive midfielder in the past few weeks.
This appears to be a good signing for Chelsea, but former assistant coach Ray Wilkins doesn't like the idea. He thinks the Blues should abandon the chase for Bakayoko and give Nathaniel Chalobah a chance to shine instead.
"Well, in Nathaniel they have got a footballer that can play exactly the same but just needs an opportunity to get in there and play," Wilkins said during an appearance on talkSPORT's "Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast."
"You have seen already in the two games he has played up to now [at the European Championship] he looks a class act in and amongst people of his own age. Playing with the top quality players that they have at Chelsea, he can only improve week to week," he continued.
Only time will tell if this is a good move by Chelsea.
Meanwhile, ESPN FC has reported that Nemanja Matić may be on the move if Chelsea manage to seal the deal to sign Bakayoko.
