Chelsea plot mega swoop for £89m stopper as Courtois replacement
Football Soccer - Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - UEFA Champions League Semi Final First Leg - Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - 2/5/17 Atletico Madrid's Jan Oblak in action Reuters / Albert Gea Livepic
It looks set to be a very busy few days at Chelsea, with Maurizio Sarri looking to bolster his squad ahead of his first season in the Premier League.
The Blues are poised to lose the services of Thibaut Courtois, who has refused to return to training after the World Cup in order to push through a transfer to Real Madrid, and have just days to land a top-class replacement.
According to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, Chelsea are prepared to activate Jan Oblak’s £89m release-clause at Atletico Madrid to bring the Slovenia international to the Premier League.
The report states that barring an unexpected turn, Chelsea will submit their offer to the Europa League champions in the next 24 hours after reaching a dead end in their pursuit of three other targets in the market.
Maurizio Sarri had eyed Roma’s Alisson but missed out to Liverpool, saw Pepe Reina refuse to step back on his commitment to AC Milan and witnessed Everton slap a huge price-tag upon the head of England’s World Cup hero Jordan Pickford.