Chelsea’s attempt to hijack the Brighton move for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall appears to have met with frustration after Leicester City rejected a bid for the player who was set to undergo a medical at the Seagulls.
Dewsbury-Hall was set to be swapped for Jakub Moder and a fee was rumoured to be in the region of £25m, and while Chelsea could not come up with an offer that is to Leicester City’s liking they have done enough to blow up that deal.
It would seem that Chelsea’s initial offer has fallen well short of what Leicester City deem to be an acceptable sum given that they are only selling the player because of their sustainability position.
However, counting in Chelsea’s favour is that Dewsbury-Hall has refused terms with Brighton which has torpedoed that swap deal and left the Foxes over a barrel.
This seems to be a consequence of Chelsea letting the player know that they wanted him at Stamford Bridge next term.
In this case, personal terms will not be an obstacle, with Dewsbury-Hall believed to be desperate to reunite with former manager Enzo Maresca at Chelsea and the Stamford Bridge boss pushing the top brass to get the deal done.
It seems that Chelsea’s offer has fallen short of the valuation Leicester have slapped on the star midfielder, with the club said to be holding out for a figure in the region of £40m.
It is unclear at this stage if the attention from Chelsea has changed Dewsbury-Hall’s mind on a potential stay at the King Power Stadium where he has been a player since joining the club’s youth structures as an eight-year-old.
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Chelsea return with swap deal offer of their own
Seeing that Brighton appeared to get some joy out of Leicester City with a swap deal, Chelsea are reputedly considering offering another body to the Foxes in exchange for the Maresca favourite.
BBC transfer expert Nizaam Kinsella has lifted the lid on Chelsea’s side of this potential deal sharing that the Blues are willing to offer highly rated starlet Cesare Casadei to Leicester to sweeten the deal.
The reporter claims Chelsea could offer Casadei in a swap deal to sign Dewsbury-Hall, after the Italian spent a spell on loan at the East Midlands club.
Such a deal might pique the interest of Leicester top brass with Casadei’s potential undeniable, but there would still be some questions about his ability to adequately make up for the departure of key first team star Dewsbury-Hall.
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