‘Take them away’: Italian pundit suggests Chelsea could sign £130m player soon, if they want him badly enough

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Italian pundit Christian Panucci has claimed on Sport Mediaset via TuttoMercatoWeb that Chelsea can sign Rafael Leao soon if they want to.

The Blues registered serious late interest in last season’s Serie A player of the season, with Thomas Tuchel scratching about to find the missing piece to his attack.

However, the club’s late interest in a deal saw them eventually being priced out of things, with AC Milan quoting £130m for them to sell the Portuguese star.

He has already got off to a strong start for the Italian champions, scoring three and assisting two in the opening five league games.

Despite missing out in the summer, Todd Boehly is likely to return for the 23-year-old in the near future, especially after seeing how the Blues attack has begun this season.

Chelsea could sign Leao

The current crop have been mostly uninspiring in the early stages of this campaign, summed up by the embarrassing 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb last night.

Panucci has claimed though that if Chelsea want to make the move for Leao, their financial situation allows them to take the scenario out of AC Milan’s hands.

He said: “If they give you 12 million. The player is a product, now the best ones take them away. It always depends on their will, not on that of the clubs, which are victims of the market.”

Blues supporters will be wishing that they had made the move for Leao during the summer transfer window, with them lacking creativity in their current frontline.

Hakim Ziyech is one player who has come in for criticism after last night’s defeat, with him failing to outline to Tuchel that he should be starting more.

The Blues will get a first-hand viewing of the winger soon too, with the Blues set to face the Serie A champions in a crucial Champions League double header.