Romano insists Forest attacker is ‘not a priority’ for Chelsea as he provides an update on three targets

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has brought a Chelsea update as they continue to be linked with Brennan Johnson, Bradley Barcola and Mohammed Kudus.

As well as raising a good chunk of money in outgoings this summer, the Blues have satisfied Mauricio Pochettino’s need for new players with eight new faces coming through the door.

Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, Christopher Nkunku, Axel Disasi, Nicolas Jackson, Lesley Ugochukwu, Robert Sanchez and Angelo have all joined this summer with Transfermarkt putting their summer spend at €385m (£328m).

But they are unlikely to be done there with Romano insisting Chelsea are still looking at bringing in a creative player and potentially a new midfielder with Kudus still on their radar.

However, Romano has insisted that Nottingham Forest attacker Johnson is “not a priority” for Chelsea as they look for a new threat at the top end of the pitch.

Romano wrote in his Caught Offside column: “Despite rumours in the last few days about Brennan Johnson and Chelsea, from what I understand he’s not a priority target for the Blues.

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“There are no concrete negotiations with Nottingham Forest at this stage, and although things can change in the final days of the transfer window, at the moment Chelsea are not considering Johnson as a priority target for that position.

“However, that position, a creative player, a winger, is a priority for Chelsea. They are looking for that kind of player and one of the names they requested information on in terms of how much the deal would cost is Bradley Barcola.

“Chelsea have an interest in this fantastic talent from Lyon, but for the moment the player is giving his priority to Paris Saint-Germain. In June, when the player changed agents to be represented by Jorge Mendes, personal terms with PSG got to a very advanced stage. Barcola said yes to PSG and so the clubs started to negotiate.

“However, from what I understand now, PSG are very nervous about the situation. They’re not happy at all, it’s a very tense situation, and they feel it could be the end of this story if Lyon don’t change their position.

“PSG aren’t happy because they feel Lyon keep on changing their asking price – one day it’s one number, another day another number. The player wants to go to PSG but Lyon are making it very difficult, and so between the clubs it’s complicated and one to follow because it could present an opportunity for other clubs like Chelsea to join the race.

“Keep an eye as well on Mohammed Kudus – West Ham had a new bid rejected yesterday by Ajax. The bid was €42m, add-ons included, but Ajax said no.

“The strange thing is that this bid was bigger than the one they received from Brighton, which they accepted, so the deal was in place but didn’t happen because of the player. Now, West Ham are offering more but it’s been rejected. Why? Ajax hope to keep Kudus for one more season or at least until January, this is their biggest hope.

“But also, Ajax feel that in the final days of the window, some very big club could enter the race and offer big money for Kudus.

“They know there are clubs looking for that kind of player, they believe there could be more clubs in the market for Kudus, and this is why Ajax are not accepting €42m from West Ham. Let’s see what happens next – West Ham will now discuss internally whether they want to bid again or leave the table.

“As for other clubs, let’s see what happens with Chelsea, who asked about Kudus in July. Keep an eye as well on Brighton to see if they try again, and Arsenal could also be one to watch because they called in June to ask about Kudus, but then they invested big money on the likes of Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice instead. Never say never, and that’s why Ajax are currently deciding not to accept proposals.”