Chelsea to land Portuguese midfielder, Nigerian international set for transfer

Chelsea are leading the race to sign Portuguese starlet Bernardo Silva, reports Tuttosport. The 21-year-old is one of the hottest prospects in European football at the moment and has been a target of clubs like Juventus and Inter Milan for quite some time now. But according to the report, the Blues have stolen the march over other clubs for the youngster, who performed admirably for Portugal in the Euro U-21 Championship over the summer.

Silva graduated from Benfica youth academy and joined Ligue 1 club Monaco for €15.75 million last year. He is rated at £21m now, and the London club are ready to pay up the transfer fee for his services.

He has scored seven goals in 17 appearances for Monaco this season. He has also completed most successful dribbles this season in the French league, with 20 dribbles.

Turkish club Galatasaray are interested in signing Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel, reports Turkish source Takvim. According to the report, Super Lig club have already enquired the availability of the Nigeria international with the London club. The central midfield signing is a priority for the Lions this transfer window after the sale of Felipe Melo to Inter Milan in the summer.

The Lions signed Borussia Dortmund Kevin Grosskreutz as a replacement for Melo on the transfer deadline day but failed to submit the necessary paperwork to the FIFA before the shutdown of the window. As a result, the German international hasn’t played any professional football this season and has become fed up with his situation at the club. He is eager to leave the club in January and Galatasaray has identified Mikel as a suitable replacement.

The Turkish club have chased Mikel in the past also and are confident of striking a deal with the player. Mikel has made just nine appearances in all competitions for the Blues this season and the prospect of regular first team football might prove too hard to turn down.