Chelsea’s increasingly protracted pursuit of Alex Sandro has taken another twist with the news that Nemanja Matic could be used as a makeweight in order to secure the Brazilian midfielder from Juventus.
The Premier League champions have so far offered £61m for Sandro with Juventus holding on for a fee of £65m, according to the London Evening Standard, and have offered to double his wages of £50k a week.
With Timoue Bakayoko about to finally complete his move from Monaco to Chelsea, Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic has been linked with a move away from the club, having lost his first team place to Cesc Fabregas towards the end of the season.
Matic, 28, has been linked with a possible reunion with former manager Jose Mourinho at Manchester United, but with Chelsea manager Antonio Conte hoping to sell him to a foreign side rather than strengthen a domestic rival, a move to Juventus has been mooted.
Juventus were linked with the imposing Serbian last summer but were knocked back by Conte. With Matic now having just two years left on his contract, Chelsea are now prepared to let him leave.
Chelsea will be hoping to push through the transfer of the left-sided Sandro after the departure of Nathan Ake to Bournemouth and the transfer of Nathaniel Chalobah to Watford.
Sandro has seven caps for Brazil and joined Juventus from Porto in 2015, winning Serie A in his two years in Turin.