Chelsea are expected to complete the signing of Augsburg left-back, Baba Rahman before their community shield fixture against Arsenal next weekend, as per ESPN.
Baba has been the subject of inquiries from a host of Europe top clubs including Chelsea, Real Madrid, Roma, Juventus and Arsenal following his sterling displays for the Bundesliga club last term. However, the Blues now appear to be on the verge of sealing the deal as Jose Mourinho wants the exciting left-back to replace Filipe Luis, who is set for a return to Spain with Atletico Madrid.
Luis was an integral part of the Atletico team that won the La Liga title and got to the Champions League final in the 2013-14 season before making a switch to Chelsea. However, the transfer did not work out as expected for the 29-year old Brazilian, with Cesar Azpilicueta preferred to him in the left-back spot in the team. Now that his return to the Vicente Calderon is almost done, Mourinho has revealed a replacement will be bought.
The Portuguese manager has now told the Chelsea management that the signing of the Ghanaian international star must be done before the squad return to return ahead of the shield encounter with Arsenal, Joy Sports understands.
According to the report, a club official who has knowledge about the move revealed: “Rahman wants to be at Chelsea but the usual fineprints are what we’re looking at. It’s about what we can offer, tax components and things like that.”
This news comes days after Baba’s club stated that they would accept nothing short of £14million price tag they’ve put on the 21-year old.
It was also confirmed that the deal has been stalling due to the Premier League club’s offer which is not close to what Augsburg is demanding. However, both clubs are now expected to meet on Tuesday, as per the source, and hopefully find an agreement.
Baba’s development has been rapid, having joined Augsburg – who surprisingly finished fifth in the BuLi last term – from Greuther Furth last summer. He also featured for Ghana at the 2014 Africa Cup of Nations.