Markovic to Chelsea back on

There seems to be a little bit of confusion surrounding Partizan Belgrade forward Lazar Markovic, who had been heavily linked with Chelsea but he’s to undergo a medical in Lisbon and will play his football for Benfica next season.

However, he’s still bound for Stamford Bridge as it is claimed that Chelsea actually own the player and have agreed to loan him to the Portuguese club for two seasons.

The story comes directly from the Partizan Belgrade president Dragan Djuric, who told Sportski Zurnal:

“It is true, Chelsea will send Markovic out on a loan for two years.

“But I really hope that Chelsea and Benfica will not come to agreement so Markovic will stay with us for at least the next six months.”

(Football365)

Markovic usually operates as a support striker or playmaker and scored seven goals whilst providing 10 assists over the season. I think he would be in good hands at Benfica, who have a good record when it comes to development and have helped former Blue Nemanja Matic become one of the most promising young midfielders in Europe.

Hopefully they’ll have similar success with Markovic, only this time we would actually own the player and wouldn’t have to break the bank to have him back.

There is still an element of doubt there as the following journalists have tweeted…

Lazar Markovic is in Lisabon. Tomorrow has medical tests and part of it is talking to one special person. After that, he is Benfica player.

— Aca Stojanovi? (@AcaStop) June 9, 2013

Markovic won’t play for Chelsea next year, as informed by @acastop he will join Benfica. But, he should still be Chelsea bound though…

— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) June 9, 2013

…but I’d say the words of the president pretty much cleared it up and that would seem a likely scenario as Chelsea have made a habit of scouting promising young players and sending them out on loan. It’s something that the scouting network and Michael Emenalo should be praised for considering the talent these player have and they’re actually playing on their respective loans, which is an infinite improvement over the days when Frank Arnesen was at the club.

Source: Football365