Chelsea made ambitious attempt to sign €68m starlet before securing Xavi Simons | OneFootball

Chelsea look close to sealing the signing of Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig, the Dutch winger coming in to replace the recently departed Noni Madueke and the soon to depart Joao Felix as an attacking option.

Chelsea pushed for Juventus wonderkid before settling on Simons

Kenan Yildiz playing for Turkey with a Chelsea logo. (Photo by Ahmad Mora/Getty Images)

It seems that Simons wasn’t the only option sounded out for that role, however. A report featured by CaughtOffside shows that the Blues pushed to sign Turkish wonderkid Kenan Yildiz from  Juventus, but weren’t able to persuade the Italian club to see. A “mind blowing” offer of “around €65m-68m was submitted,” but the Italian club “have no intention of letting Yildiz leave the club.”

There is speculation that the Blues could return with another offer, but with the Simons deal apparently close, that feels unlikely. Business in attacking areas is surely almost over at this point, with significant traffic in and out already having taken place.

Interest in Yildiz was mentioned before, earlier in the summer, but the top insiders never made it sound like we were close to persuading Juventus to sell him.

The focus at Chelsea likely now turns to the defence, with a left back high on the list of needs in this squad now.

Chelsea bids for Yildiz add up in light of Simons interest

While this story has rather come from nowhere, we can certainly believe it’s true. The bids for Simons have taken precedence, with RB Leipzig far more willing to do business, but we can see why the Blues would have tested Juventus’ resolve over their young talent.

With Simons’ move possibly reaching €70m, it would have made sense to offer a similar amount for Yildiz to take the temperature of Juve’s willingness to sell.