Chelsea reportedly saw a €48million January transfer window bid for Leeds United winger Raphinha turned down.
The Blues may now have missed their chance to sign Raphinha, with the club awaiting news of a potential takeover after Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government.
It seems Leeds could sell Raphinha this summer, but were keen to keep hold of him until the end of the season, thereby rejecting a big offer from Chelsea in January, according to the print edition of Mundo Deportivo, as translated by Sport Witness.
Chelsea will surely regret that they couldn’t get this deal done, as it would have been useful for Thomas Tuchel to have alternatives to under-performers like Timo Werner and Christian Pulisic.
Chelsea have also been linked with Ousmane Dembele by ESPN, but it surely all remains on their ability to do business in the transfer market this summer.
Either Raphinha or Dembele could be fine signings, but CFC need to complete a takeover deal and fans will have to hope that whoever replaces Abramovich continues to be as ambitious in the transfer market as he was.