Chelsea have decided to move on from their long pursuit of Jules Koundé seemingly destined to end in failure.
With Barcelona now favourites to sign the 24 year old French international they have moved on to the next name on the list of possible defensive targets.
At Inter Milan they have looked at both centre back Milan Škriniar and wing-back Denzel Dumfries, but Dumfries appears the more attainable of the two. That is because the Serie A sides have raised their valuation of the Slovak Škriniar to £59 million, which is more than Chelsea were ready to pay for Koundé.
Inter are more ready to listen to offers for Dumfries, who is also attracting interest from Manchester United.
Dumfries is a Dutch international best known for his rampaging runs up and down the right flank, and, should he be signed, may be an indication that Chelsea are finally prepared to let club captain César Azpilicueta leave the club this summer.
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.