Chelsea have lodged a £17 million bid for striker Habib Diallo, who plays for Ligue 1 side FC Metz.
24 year old Diallo first made his mark with Metz in 2015, before a two season long loan spell with Brest. However, since returning to Metz, he has scored 36 league goals in 56 appearances.
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard wants to bring in competition for Tammy Abraham, because both Michy Batshuayi and Olivier Giroud are fed-up with their back-up roles at Stamford Bridge and are considering moves away from the club in the current window.
Metz have previously insisted they do not want to sell the forward, but they are not a wealthy club, and a substantial offer from Chelsea could prove too tempting to resist.
The Premier League club have been linked with moves for a number of strikers, including Lyon’s Moussa Dembélé and RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner, but Diallo may be more attainable in the current timeframe.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.