Craig Burley is completely baffled by rumours that Juventus could sell Dusan Vlahovic to Chelsea in a deal that could see Romelu Lukaku move in the opposite direction.
There’s transfer speculation flying around this window regarding what Chelsea will do in the No 9 position.
Romelu Lukaku, who’s not been involved in the Blues pre-season tour, is widely tipped to leave Stamford Bridge. Now, Juventus are emerging as potential buyers for the 30- year-old striker. In fact, Chelsea could sign Dusan Vlahovic as part of any deal.
The Daily Mail reported this week that Chelsea have opened talks with Juventus over a swap deal for Lukaku and Vlahovic. The Italian giants will demand a player-plus-cash deal to sell Vlahovic, though.
ESPN pundit Burley is convinced that Chelsea will get the much better end of the deal if they can offload Lukaku and sign Vlahovic in the process.
He’s slightly shocked that the Italian giants are willing to sell the 23-year-old centre-forward and replace him with Lukaku.
Burley told ESPN: “If Chelsea get rid of him (Lukaku) and manage to get Vlahovic in, who wasn’t at his best last year but we know is a good player, and we know they’re struggling in that department even with [Christopher] Nkunku coming in, it seems like a win-win from Chelsea’s perspective. From Juventus’ perspective, it doesn’t make any sense.”
If this swap deal does come to life, only time will tell who’s got the better end of the straw.
In our view, Chelsea should be happy with whatever way they can get Lukaku off their books in this transfer window.
We wouldn’t be surprised to see the Belgian frontman go score goals again in the Serie A for Juventus, but his time at Stamford Bridge looks finished.
Meanwhile, Vlahovic, who’s seven years younger than Lukaku, is a bit more of a mystery.
He’s yet to really live up to the hype during his time in Turin, but perhaps he could be a great fit for the Premier League with his power and finishing.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
