Atlético Madrid have moved ahead of Juventus in the race to sign Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kanté.
The 31 year old is out of contract at Stamford Bridge at the end of the season, and does not likely to be offered a new deal in the light of his recent injury problems.
He has missed the last six months with a hamstring problem, that also ruled him out of France’s World Cup squad.
The club are hoping that he may be fit enough to return for their Champions League tie with Borussia Dortmund next week, but, having broken the British transfer record to sign a ready made replacement in the form of Enzo Fernandez, it looks like Kanté’s days in West London are numbered.
Juventus are a less attractive club to potential recruits because of the financial issues that they face, and the threat that they are under of being excluded from European football altogether next season.
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.