Chelsea ‘offer’ for €40m striker confirmed by European giants but ‘straight swap deal’ was ‘impossible’ | OneFootball

Juventus pair Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa.

Juventus director of football – Cristian Giuntoli – has confirmed that Chelsea made an “offer” for Dusan Vlahovic during the summer transfer window.

The Serie A giants beat Arsenal in the race to sign Vlahovic during the January transfer window in 2022. He joined them from Fiorentina for a fee of around €70m.

Vlahovic scored 14 goals in 42 appearances in his first full season for Juventus in 2022/23 but he was linked with a move away in the summer amid their ongoing financial troubles.

Chelsea spent significant fees to sign Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku during the summer but they were also reportedly considering a swap deal involving Vlahovic and Romelu Lukaku.

Giuntoli has now confirmed that Chelsea’s bid for Vlahocic during the summer was not acceptable but they would have sanctioned an exit if the numbers were right.

“In the summer we confirmed Rabiot, redeemed Milik, brought in Weah and Cambiaso to go in the direction we indicated,” Giuntoli said.

“On Lukaku, there was Chelsea’s offer for Vlahovic. We didn’t want to sell Dusan but given certain numbers we would have accepted. Chelsea never reached that figure, and the exchange was not made.”

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has given “two reasons” why Chelsea did not end up going all-out for Vlahovic.

“There was something a bit more concrete with Chelsea and Dusan Vlahovic, though it still needs to be emphasised that the Blues always told Juventus that they were not keen on signing Vlahovic,” Romano told Caught Offside.

“They didn’t want him as a priority target, and the only way they were going to consider that possibility would be in a straight swap deal with Romelu Lukaku, with no money involved.

“However, for Juventus this was absolutely impossible – they wanted €40m for Vlahovic, as well as Lukaku included in the deal. Chelsea, however, did not want to proceed under these conditions, for two reasons: firstly, they wanted to go for a different kind of striker up front, and they wanted to trust Nicolas Jackson.

“Mauricio Pochettino was also important, because he, together with the Chelsea board, was not convinced about the Vlahovic deal. From what I’m hearing, they discussed this possibility with intermediaries because they were looking for ways to offload Lukaku, but the only way they felt acceptable was in a swap deal with no money involved.”