Chelsea are strongly considering making an offer to Brentford for striker Ivan Toney in the January transfer window, multiple sources have told football.london. The 27-year-old will return from his eight-month ban in the middle of January and is open to leaving the Bees.
The Blues are long-term admirers of Toney and with Brentford willing to sell him in January, a move could be made in the new year or perhaps in the summer, should Chelsea choose to trust their current crop of central attacking options. Chelsea really rate Nicolas Jackson but he could be missing for up to a month in January as he goes off to represent Senegal in the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations.
Mauricio Pochettino is also a fan of Armando Broja but the club do not want to place too much reliance on the Cobham graduate, who recently returned to actions after almost a year on the sidelines with a serious knee injury. Chelsea do not yet know what sort of impact Christopher Nkunku will have upon his imminent return, and likewise we do not know what position the club see the France international playing.
So an offer for Toney is certainly being considered and Brentford are said to be open to selling the striker. Some reports claim that the Bees will offload the forward should they receive an £80million offer for his services.
In recent windows, paying such a fee would come as no problem for Chelsea because the club have spread the cost of signing players across very long contracts. For instance, Mykhailo Mudryk was signed for a fee believed to be around £88million but because he was brought in on an eight-and-a-half year deal, it works out at just over £10million every 12 months.
However, UEFA have now changed their rules and regulations meaning this strategy will not be able to be replicated in the future. Now, clubs will only be able to spread transfer fees over a five-year period, but the rules will not be applied to previous dealings already made by Chelsea.
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Pochettino, back in August, explained how going into the transfer market for another central striker could limit Broja's first-team opportunities. "I think at the same time we are keeping one or two eyes on Armando Broja because I think we can't forget him," the Blues head coach explained.
"We cannot stop him, and to bring some profile of player that can stop his evolution. We really believe in him, we know him very well. He can be a really important striker for Chelsea. We need to be careful."
But the 22-year-old has struggled with fitness problems even after returning from his long-term injury. After making his comeback against Aston Villa in September, the Albania international played four matches before picking up another knock. He did, though, come on just before the international break in the eight-goal thriller with Manchester City.
There is a slight concern at Chelsea right now, though, following reports earlier in the week that raised even more questions about their success under previous owner Roman Abramovich. Following a joint investigation by the Guardian and a group of international outlets including the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) and Germany’s Paper Trail Media, files have been uncovered relating to a series of payments spread out over a decade worth tens of millions of pounds.
Said payments are reportedly 'routed through offshore vehicles', which belong to Abramovich. Such transactions are said to be for Chelsea's benefit and there have been questions asked whether the relevant governing bodies were made aware of the accounts.
Those who benefitted from the payments appeared to include the agent of Chelsea great Eden Hazard, who retired just last month, an associate of the title-winning manager Antonio Conte and Chelsea FC officials. Last month, the Blues' acquisition of both Willian and Samuel Eto'o also came into question after it was revealed that a company owned by Abramovich also made payments that appear to have benefited fellow Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, the owner of Anzhi Makhachkala whom the pair played for.
It was then revealed that two months prior to the deals, the Abramovich-owned Leiston Holdings had paid two companies connected to Kerimov for "services in […] relating to football, including scouting and other football-related advice". According to the Guardian, experts now believe that the Blues face a points deduction as a possible penalty for the dealings.
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