Chelsea handed boost in Alex Telles pursuit | OneFootball

Chelsea’s chances of signing Porto defender Alex Telles this summer appear to have got a whole lot stronger.

The Blues have been heavily linked with Telles for a number of months now, and the left-back reportedly has a €40m release clause in his contract.

And according to fresh reports, the Brazilian has recently hired Pini Zahavi as his agent, which could be good news for Frank Lampard.

That’s because Zahavi reportedly has close links to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich having helped the Russian purchase the club back in 2003.

If Chelsea were to meet his release clause, being on good terms with his agent would likely make contract negotiations much smoother.

The same goes for another player the Blues have been linked with – Philippe Coutinho – whose agent Kia Joorabchian is also said to be on good terms with the club.

With Barcelona expected to part ways with Coutinho this summer, Chelsea are likely to be one of many clubs interested in signing the former Liverpool man.

But their run at Telles is likely to be much clearer, and he has reportedly now moved above Leicester left-back Ben Chilwell on Chelsea’s list of transfer targets.

The 27-year-old is out of contract in 2021 and is understood to have told Porto that he has no intention of signing an extension.