Chelsea are reportedly in the hunt for Mauro Icardi, as PSG struggle to agree a permanent transfer for the on loan striker with his parent club Inter Milan.
The Argentina international joined the Ligue 1 champions, awarded the 2019-20 title after the season in France was cancelled last month, on a season-long-loan at a cost of €13m, scoring 20 goals in 31 competitive games. PSG had an option to make the loan permanent for €70m.
With Edinson Cavani leaving on a free transfer, PSG are keen to do a deal but don’t want to pay the full price, and had an offer of €50m plus €10m in bonuses rejected by Inter last week, who want the full price for the Argentina international.
PSG thought they were the only non-Italian team interested in Icardi, but they are not, as Premier League side Chelsea are also interested in the striker with both Olivier Giroud’s and Michy Batshuayi’s long-term future at Stamford Bridge in doubt.
Chelsea have lacked a dependable goalscorer since Diego Costa was sent back to Spain by Antonio Conte and Icardi would certainly provide Lampard with a more cutting edge than Tammy Abraham.
Icardi is the type of player who divides fans, mainly for his off-the-field antics. We see that at PSG where PSG coach Thomas Tuchel is not a fan of the striker, but Sporting Director Leonardo is.
The former Borussia Dortmund coach began to bench the 27-year-old a little before the end of the French season, including leaving him out entirely in the two Champions League games against Borussia Dortmund, which angered Icardi. The coach also wasn’t happy with Icardi’s failure to fully adapt to his tactics, his lifestyle and his weight struggles, according to the report.
