Paris Saint-Germain have reportedly had a €25m bid rejected by Atalanta for midfielder and Chelsea target Franck Kessie.
The 20-year-old has been attracting plenty of attention with his form so far this season, as he has scored seven goals and provided two assists in 17 games while generally impressing with his displays.
In turn, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, PSG have made their move by offering La Dea a deal worth an initial €20m with an additional €5m in bonuses.
However, that has been rejected as ultimately the Serie A side can’t afford to lose another top young talent having sold Roberto Gagliardini to Inter last week.
It won’t do much to fend off interest for long though as the report goes on to add that Chelsea are joined by Manchester United, Everton and Juventus in the race to sign the talented youngster, while the likes of Napoli and Roma could also come knocking in the months ahead.
It’s claimed that Everton had their own €18m dismissed, and so it will likely take a significant offer to test the resolve of Atalanta and persuade them to sell one of their prized assets.
As for Chelsea, Conte has consistently been linked with bringing in a midfielder since his arrival at Stamford Bridge, and he’ll require more depth having seen John Obi Mikel leave.
N’Golo Kante, Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas are the obvious choices along with youngsters Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Nathaniel Chalobah, but with Champions League football likely returning to west London next season, he’ll need quality options to fight on various fronts moving forward.