Chelsea are reportedly set to offer club captain Reece James in a straight swap deal for Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde.
The Blues have staggeringly spent over £1bn since Todd Boehly took charge last year but only managed a 12th-place finish in the Premier League last term.
Mauricio Pochettino has brought in the likes of Moises Caicedo (£115m), Romeo Lavia (£58m), Nicolas Jackson (£32m)
Since he took the reigns at Stamford Bridge, but he is keen to bolster his squad further in January.
Now, reports from Spain (as cited by Football365) claim that Chelsea are ‘planning’ to offer James in exchange for Valverde.
Real Madrid are well-stocked in the middle of the park with Jude Bellingham arriving in the summer to join Aurelien Tchouameni, Edouardo Camavinga, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Dani Ceballos and Brahim Diaz.
As a result, it has claimed that the Spanish giants would be willing to offload Valverde for the right price. He has an estimated valuation of €80m (approx. £69.4m).
Liverpool and Arsenal are also keen on signing Valverde, so Chelsea could face competition for his signature.
Chelsea plan shock swap deal for Valverde
The report notes that ‘Chelsea has been following in the footsteps of Fede Valverde for a long time’ and plans to offer James – ‘a player who’s been on Madrid’s agenda for some time’ – in exchange.
As mentioned, Valverde is value at around €80m by Real Madrid
But it’s thought that James is valued at a higher price than that by Chelsea, despite the report’s claims.
There’s no doubt that Los Blancos are admirers of James, though, and have registered an interest in signing him. They are looking for a long-term replacement for Dani Carvajal. Manchester City also have the defender on their radar
James missed 25 games due to injury last season.
James hasn’t featured for Chelsea since the opening weekend of the season having picked up a hamstring injury. It’s not clear when he will return despite Pochettino claiming last week that “he’s recovering well”.
At the age of 23, though, he still has time to bounce back from his recent set-backs, and Carlo Ancelotti clearly thinks so, too.
