Stamford Bridge manager hopes to bring in Bernabeu talents this summer.
Former Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has set his sights on a trio of Bernabeu talents as the Chelsea manager look to step-up his summer spending.
CaughtOffside understands that the returning Stamford Bridge boss is eager to bring in further signings during the transfer window having thus far signed young talents Andre Schurrle and Marco van Ginkel and the Portuguese boss is ready to make a move for a number of Real Madrid players who could be surplus to requirements at the Spanish giants.
Re-elected president Florentino Perez is keen to bring in further ‘Marquee’ signings of his own and having already forked out in excess of £50m to bring in Spanish international pair Isco and Asier Illarramendi, as well as youngsters Daniel Carvajal and Casemiro, the La Liga side are keen to trim their squad in an attempt to balance the books.
Jose Mourinho is ready to make an offer for Real Madrid wing-back Fabio Coentrao who is yet to return to pre-season training (though did start the club’s friendly victory over Bournemouth yesterday), resulting in speculation that the former Benfica man could be on his way out.
Coentrao has had something of an up and down time of it since moving to the Spanish capital in July 2011, with off field antics said to have angered the Real Madrid board who could be looking to sell the left-sided player who cost the club around £30m to sign.
Mourinho is a big admirer of the Portuguese international, hence his successful pursuit of the attack minded full-back whilst in charge of Real Madrid, and sees Coentrao as a long term replacement for Ashley Cole, who has one year to run on his current Chelsea contract.
The Chelsea boss is ready to offer up to £20m for the 25 year old and that may be a bid Real Madrid gladly accept, not least as Brazilian Marcelo is fighting fit after missing much of last term through injury.
Jose Mourinho also hopes to lure midfield powerhouse Sami Khedira to Stamford Bridge as he feels he needs to add more steel to his Chelsea midfield.
With speculation rife that Mourinho is ready to allow John Obi Mikel to leave the club and with Oriol Romeu already having been loaned out to Valencia, the Chelsea boss has been linked with a number of midfield targets.
The arrival of Asier Illarramendi will no doubt lead German international Khedira wondering about his long term future at Real Madrid, with the £29m signing a direct rival of his starting spot under new boss Carlo Ancelotti.
Khedira was one of Mourinho’s first signings as Real Madrid boss and is one of the few players in the club’s squad that retained a good working relationship with the 50 year old manager during the latter stages of his tenure and the Chelsea manager will be backed by Blues owner Roman Abramovich to make a significant bid for his services.
Mourinho is ready to offer up to £30m for the former Stuttgart man.
Chelsea continue to pursue a prolific marksman to lead the Blues strike-force and Jose Mourinho has set his sights on Gonzalo Higuain, with the Argentine publicly stating that his former boss wants to bring him to Stamford Bridge this summer.
Though the Argentine often played second fiddle to Karim Benzema in Mourinho’s first team picture during his three year stint in charge of Real Madrid it is thought that the Chelsea manager retained a good rapport with the former River Plate man, due to primarily to the fact that the striker never took the ‘perceived snub’ to heart.
Indeed when called upon Higuain was a regular goal-scorer as evidenced by the fact that the 25 year old scored 16 La Liga goals in 2012/13 despite making just 19 starts.
Mourinho has been impressed with the efforts of youngster Romelu Lukaku during pre-season action and German forward Andre Schurrle is settling in well but there are big question marks over whether the Chelsea boss has any intention of using Fernando Torres or Demba Ba in prominent roles is reportedly ready to cash-in on either as he looks to bring in fresh attacking options.
The Blues boss is ready to meet Real Madrid’s £25m valuation though the likes of Arsenal and Napoli are also said to be keen on the consistent forward.