Sources confirm Chelsea pursuit of £86m transfer from London rivals

Chelsea have an interest in Tottenham wonderkid central defender Luka Vuskovic ahead of the summer transfer window, CaughtOffside understands.

The talented 19-year-old has been linked with a host of top clubs, including Chelsea, in German media, and our sources have confirmed these claims to be accurate.

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The Blues are known for scouring the market for the best young players in world football, and Vuskovic certainly looks to be establishing himself in that department.

The Croatia international is yet to play a single minute for Spurs but has looked hugely impressive with his defensive displays for Hamburg during his loan spell in the Bundesliga this season.

“It’s true that Chelsea are interested,” one well-connected source told us. “They’ve done their homework on him and he’s high up on their list as they look for a new centre-back.”

Luka Vuskovic transfer won’t come cheap

Other sources also confirmed Chelsea’s interest, while others once again mentioned Bayern Munich as being big admirers of the teenager, though it’s unclear if a defender is a priority for them at this stage.

Chelsea’s interest is the strongest for the moment, according to most of the people we’ve spoken to, but others such as Liverpool and Barcelona could also be in the mix.

However, one issue for interested clubs is that Tottenham are not at all keen to let Vuskovic go, and he may already have a market value of around €100m (£86m).

Chelsea have shown that they are prepared to invest big money in elite young talents like that, so it might be that this kind of deal isn’t beyond them.

Still, Spurs are in control of the situation as Vuskovic is tied down to a contract until 2030.

Tottenham relaxed over Luka Vuskovic interest

For what it’s worth, THFC sources insist they have not been approached over Vuskovic and that they do not plan to sell.

That sends a clear message, but the nature of the transfer market is often such that clubs don’t enter into direct negotiations until quite late on after talks between other parties.

It has not yet been confirmed if Chelsea have spoken to anyone around Vuskovic, but the sense is that that could happen soon.

The post Sources confirm Chelsea pursuit of £86m transfer from London rivals appeared first on CaughtOffside.