Chelsea ‘love’ £70m player but Real Madrid ‘confident’ they will beat them to signing

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Chelsea could be set to lose another transfer battle against Spanish giants Real Madrid.

In the summer, Chelsea were interested in signing Dean Huijsen when the defender was still at Bournemouth, but he ended up at Real Madrid instead.

This time, the Blues and their Spanish counterparts are both keen on the same attacker.

However, it looks like history could be about to repeat itself, with Real Madrid fancying their chances in the race for the player’s signature.

• READ MORE: Chelsea tried to sign £50m Real Madrid player in January claims agent

Real Madrid ‘confident’ they’ll sign Nico Paz ahead of Chelsea

Chelsea may need to sign a new attacking midfielder next year, and Como’s Nico Paz appears to be on their radar.

One source has told CaughtOffside that Chelsea “love” Paz but Real Madrid are “confident” of landing their former player.

Real Madrid will have to pay huge money for Paz, though, if Como manage to remove their buy-back clause by making him sign a new contract.

CaughtOffside’s report claims that Como think they could end up selling the Argentina international for as much as €80m (£69.7m).

Chelsea signed Paz’s compatriot Facundo Buonanotte from Brighton & Hove Albion in the last transfer window, but that was only a loan deal.

Ultimately, after missing out on Xavi Simons and Fermin Lopez, the Club World Cup winners may decide to buy a new No.10 next year.

Nico Paz already shining at Como this season

While several of Chelsea’s attackers, such as Jamie Gittens, are struggling right now, Paz is thriving.

For example, in five Serie A appearances, the 21-year-old has already scored three goals and provided three assists.

He is the highest-rated Como player on WhoScored and is currently making 3.4 key passes per game, which is the highest average in Cesc Fabregas’ squad.

Paz, then, is definitely not a bad player for Chelsea to consider in the new year, but Real Madrid’s own interest is going to be a big problem for them, while they also have to think about Kendry Paez’s development and not blocking his pathway into the first team.