Chelsea should soon be announcing the new signing of Romelu Lukaku any moment now, and they could then turn their attentions to making another big capture in the shape of Jules Kounde from Sevilla.
Negotiations there appeared to slow down a little whilst Chelsea concentrated on getting the Lukaku deal done, but now that is seemingly all but done pending an announcement, they will turn back to getting Kounde deal done.
Graeme Bailey of 90min has written the latest report on this saga this morning.
He says that Chelsea are currently looking for solutions to avoid paying Sevilla’s full release clause for Kounde which is said to be around £68m.
They have asked to negotiate the fee down because paying all of the fee up front could push Chelsea close to issues with Financial Fair Play rules.
Chelsea reportedly spoke to Sevilla about whether they would take a deal which would allow them to pay in instalments over a number of years. Sevilla were willing, however Bailey says that in return for taking such a deal, they upped their asking price by another £20m. That would take the overall fee towards the £90m mark.
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Whilst Chelsea are willing to pay a little more in return for not having to meet his clause in full, they are understood to have baulked at the additional £20m.
