Chelsea to capitalise on Barcelona stance as deal lined up for ‘next Busquets’
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Chelsea could reportedly be set to beat Barcelona to the signing of Brazilian starlet Gabriel Moscardo, who is thought to have been lined up by the Catalan giants as Sergio Busquets’ eventual successor. The latter departed the Nou Camp earlier this year after racking up close to 500 total appearances and is now plying his trade at Inter Miami alongside Lionel Messi.
Moscardo is said to be keenly admired by Barcelona, with his impressive performances for Corinthians reportedly making him a target for several top European clubs. However, it seems as though Chelsea could have the upper hand when it comes to securing his signature in the not-too-distant future.
The Blues are more likely to succeed than Barcelona as a result of the Spanish club’s reluctance to pay the full value of his asking price, according to Fabrizio Romano. It is claimed that Moscardo is expected to command a transfer fee in the region of £21.8million, which Barcelona deem too high at this stage of proceedings.
Chelsea are believed to have a long-standing interest in Moscardo and reportedly wanted to bring him to Stamford Bridge over the summer, although no formal approaches were made at the time. There is said to be a chance that a move could soon be revisited, either in January or at the end of the season, but the Blues will not be the only club in the race for his signature.
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The report adds that around ‘five or six’ teams are keen on poaching Moscardo for themselves, with clubs in the UK and Italy said to be leading the way. However, it remains to be seen where the 18-year-old will end up when the time comes to leave Corinthians and try his luck in Europe.
Moscardo recently admitted that he was aware of Chelsea’s interest over the summer but is not allowing himself to think about the possibility of a move just yet in order to focus on the task at hand at Corinthians.
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“To tell you the truth, I have very little information,” he told Globo Esporte. “My father knows a few things, he prefers not to tell me so as not to influence my head too much. To end up taking a little bit of my focus here, he says: ‘Here your focus is on Corinthians’.
“Let’s wait for the season to end, there are still a few games to go, and we’ll see what we can do. Of course there’s interest from various clubs, I’ve also heard about it, there was strong interest from Chelsea a few months ago, but if you stop to think about where I’m going now, at this moment, it’s not good. I want to help Corinthians now to get them out of this situation.”
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