Chelsea ‘panic buy’ put Pochettino off signing €40m Serie A star as two major ‘concerns’ are revealed

Lewis Oldham 20 Sep 2023 7:30 AM

Chelsea target Vlahovic — Juventus pair Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa.

According to reports, Chelsea had two ‘concerns’ about Juventus forward Dusan Vlahovic that put them off signing him during the summer transfer window.

Chelsea were always going to be linked with several attackers during the recent summer transfer window as they only scored 38 Premier League goals last season.

They ended up spending significant fees to sign Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson from RB Leipzig and Villarreal respectively.

The Blues were dealt a serious blow before the season started as Nkunku suffered a serious knee injury that will keep him out for around four months. Jackson meanwhile has only scored one goal in his first five Premier League outings.

Chelsea were also linked with Vlahovic in the summer. Arsenal have previously looked at the Serbia international, who joined Juventus for £60m plus add-ons during the January transfer window in 2022.

The 23-year-old has scored 27 goals in his first 67 games for Juventus but it was suggested during the summer that the Turin-based outfit were willing to let him leave as a result of their financial struggles.

It was heavily reported that Chelsea were looking to sign Vlahovic as part of a swap deal including Romelu Lukaku. This deal did not end up going through and the Blues outcast joined AS Roma on loan instead.

Journalist Ben Jacobs has now revealed “how a previous panic buy led to Chelsea deciding against the Vlahovic risk”.

The “panic buy” in question is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Chelsea were also “concerned” about Vlahovic’s “injury record”.

“Chelsea were offered a number of players this summer that they turned down. This is normal for any big club, but especially one that’s spent £1bn over the past three windows. Sellers and agents will always target an active club in the market,” Jacobs told Caught Offside.

“Although Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic was a name Chelsea had tracked over multiple windows they never seriously entertained a swap deal for Romelu Lukaku, who is now at Roma. This was because Mauricio Pochettino wasn’t on board. Chelsea would have had to pay €35-40m in addition to Lukaku, but I understand it wasn’t the money that put off the club.

“Chelsea do admire many of Vlahovic’s qualities but had some concerns about his injury record. And, more importantly, they wanted to give priority to Nicolas Jackson and Armando Broja.

“I also think after signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in a bit of a panic last summer from Barcelona, Chelsea didn’t want to rush into adding another big-money forward.

“If the goals don’t come this year, they’ll move in January instead with Brentford’s Ivan Toney one option. Nothing is advanced on that front yet. It will all depend on how Chelsea fare between now and January.”

Chelsea Dusan Vlahovic