Chelsea look to hijack £44m Barcelona swoop, successor in key role eyed

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Chelsea are reportedly keen on snapping up Gremio midfielder Arthur, with the Brazilian ace also heavily linked with a move to Barcelona.

As seen below, the 21-year-old was pictured wearing a Barca jersey last weekend, which would suggest that it may be difficult for Chelsea to swoop in and land his signature instead.

However, according to The Mirror, the reigning Premier League champions are keen on the Brazilian, who is said to have a £44m release clause in his contract.

Arthur has certainly made an impression at a young age for Gremio, and will have ambitions of breaking into the senior Brazil side moving forward to prove himself as a key figure for club and country.

In turn, it’s no surprise that he’s attracting interest from Europe, although it’s noted that he could be seen as a successor to Cesc Fabregas.

Aside from the fact that the Spaniard turns 31 next year, he has just one more year left on his contract after this season, at which point he could move on for nothing.

If no new deal is agreed upon, Chelsea will have an important role to fill and so perhaps they’ve started the search early to find a more than capable long-term replacement in a department where they’re arguably already quite light with N’Golo Kante, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Danny Drinkwater fighting for places.

None of those trio offer what Fabregas does though with his additional creative qualities, and so a move for Arthur could make sense to add balance to Antonio Conte’s midfield options. Whether Chelsea can see off Barcelona though remains to be seen, while Arthur will also face the challenge of adapting to the Premier League if he were to move which could make this a risky choice, especially with the fee involved.

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