Chelsea turn attention to Sevilla director following Freund snub; Potter wants Inter duo

Jason Soutar
Reported Chelsea target Nicolo Barella complains

Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly is reportedly interested in bringing Sevilla sporting director Monchi to Stamford Bridge.

After playing for Sevilla between 1990 and 1999, Monchi became the club’s sporting director a year later.

He spent 17 years in that role before spending a little less than two years with AS Roma in the Italian capital.

The 54-year-old returned to Sevilla in April 2019 to take up his sporting director role at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium again.

Monchi has a great reputation in the game and usually tends to get every last penny out of opposition teams sniffing around the talent in Seville.

He has been linked with a move to the Premier League in the past, with Manchester United and Arsenal reportedly interested.

The Spaniard – whose full name is Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo – is now a target for Chelsea, according to 90min.

The Blues had tried to lure Christoph Freund from Red Bull Salzburg but were unable to do so.

Monchi was integral in the deal to send long-time Chelsea target Jules Kounde from Sevilla to La Liga rivals Barcelona.

The report states that Blues co-owner, chairman and interim sporting director Boehly is a ‘huge fan’ of Monchi.

It is unclear whether or not the Spaniard has any intention of leaving Sevilla, however.

Having failed to bring in Freund or former Liverpool director Michael Edwards, Monchi is now thought to be Boehly’s top choice.

The report adds that Monaco’s Paul Mitchell, Bayer Leverkusen’s Tim Steidten and Leeds United’s Victor Orta are also on Chelsea’s shortlist.

From the staff to the playing squad; Chelsea are reportedly interested in signing Inter Milan midfielder Nicolo Barella.

The Italian playmaker has been heavily linked with Liverpool in the past and is valued at £63million, as per Transfermarkt.

The 39-cap Italy international is under contract at San Siro until 2026.

Rumours of Chelsea’s interest in Barella come from Italian outlet Calciomercatoweb.

Graham Potter’s appointment following the sacking of Thomas Tuchel has left the Inter hierarchy ‘trembling’ as the former Brighton boss plans an ‘assault’ next June.

He is expected to be very busy next summer and will also pursue defender Milan Skriniar.

The Slovakian is out of contract in 2023 and was linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain throughout the entirety of the summer transfer window.

Should Skriniar pen a new deal, it is expected that Chelsea would have to pay €50m for him and €60m for Barella.

In an ideal world, for Chelsea anyway, they would land the former for free when his contract runs out.

Skriniar captains the Slovakian national team and has made 224 appearances for the Nerazzurri across five years and has developed into one of the best central defenders in the world.

Barella has scored 13 and assisted 37 in 143 appearances for the Serie A giants.

He has started this season in fine form, contributing to four goals in seven league appearances so far.