Chelsea and Tottenham were both linked with AC Milan star Kessie earlier this week.
Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly going head-to-head to sign AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie – but Chelsea are said to have the upper hand over their London rivals.
Italian outlet TuttoMercatoWeb claim 22-year-old Kessie, who is currently on a two-year loan at Milan which started in the summer of 2017 – and will become permanent this summer – is close to becoming disillusioned at the San Siro.
The report states if Milan do not finish in the top four of the Serie A table and qualify for the Champions League, he will look to leave the club – and that has seen Chelsea and Spurs become interested in the Ivory Coast international.
He is rated at £36million by Gennaro Gattuso’s side, but new reports suggested Chelsea have a better chance of landing the former Atalanta ace than Tottenham because of Tiemoue Bakayoko.
The former AS Monaco star is currently on loan at Milan from Chelsea, and after a disappointing start to life in Serie A, he has turned his loan spell around and is now considered one of the club’s best players.
Needless to say, then, Milan will be looking to keep the France international beyond the end of the season. Since Chelsea’s interest in Kessie. TuttoMercatoWeb have produced a new report – stating Bakayoko could be included in a swap deal for Kessie.
With Milan likely to want to keep Bakayoko beyond his loan, a swap deal would give Chelsea the upper hand and move them into pole position above Spurs in the hunt for Kessie.
Including Bakayoko would give Milan an instant replacement for Kessie, and see them offload a player that does not want to be there with a top-class replacement without having to break the bank. If Chelsea are willing to do a swap, they may end up beating Spurs to Kessie’s signature.
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