Agent confirms one Chelsea transfer is ‘close’ as £75m target Fofana is ruled out of Leicester match

The agent of Dinamo Moscow youngster Arsen Zakharyan has claimed that Chelsea are close to sealing a deal for his client.

Chelsea have already signed a number of players this summer Marc Cucurella, Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei and Gabriel Slonina all leaving.

However, there business is still not done as they look to sign at least a centre-back and a striker before the end of the transfer window, while they are also in the market for young players with potential.

Big Weekend: Arsenal v Fulham, Henderson, Fofana, Southampton, Lage

Zakharyan had a breakthrough season for Dinamo in the 2021-22 campaign with the 19-year-old scoring nine goals in 34 appearances from midfield.

With future stars Chukwuemeka and Casadei signing for Chelsea this summer, Todd Boehly and his transfer team are looking to bring in Zakharyan as another hot prospect.

And Zakharyan’s agent Pavel Andreev confirmed to RB Sport that a deal to join Chelsea is close, he said: “It’s true. The agreement is close”.

The Blues lost Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen to La Liga on free transfers this summer, while Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner also departed.

A centre-back is right at the top of their priority list with Chelsea chasing a deal for Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana for a few weeks now.

The Blues recently had a £70m offer for Fofana turned down by the Foxes with Leicester looking for a deal that is less reliant on add-ons.

And transfer expert Fabrizio Romano insists that Chelsea are preparing a ‘new bid’ for Fofana of £75m with the fresh offer ‘discussed internally since Tuesday’.

The Frenchman ‘won’t be part of Leicester squad’ which travels to Chelsea for their fixture tomorrow against Thomas Tuchel’s men.

Romano adds that if Fofana leaves, then Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah ‘will be allowed to leave on loan’ with Leipzig, Inter Milan and AC Milan all interested.

And now former Premier League defender Matthew Upson is interested to see how much of the Fofana money will be reinvested into the first team at Leicester, if the Foxes decide to sell.

“I think Leicester are in a position where they are a bit of a selling club,” Upson told Sky Sports.

“In the past, you look at how the club has operated, with Fofana, maybe they would have said he’s not for sale and they’d hang on to those sort of players.

“Something is not quite right with the investment into the club, or how it has been.  They’ve invested heavily into the infrastructure of the club and they have built brilliant foundations for Leicester City Football Club.

“But right at this moment in time, he (Fofana) is a player in high demand, he is a high value player. What will be interesting with Leicester is whether or not they move these players on and how much of that is reinvested into the squad.

“That’s the key point with all of these transactions and whether or not you want to keep a player there that has had his head turned.”