hellea have grown cold during the discussions Chicago fire goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina after nearly agreeing to a £10m deal.
The 18-year-old is waiting to see if the Blues complete a transfer after they nearly agreed on a transfer to Stamford Bridge before sanctions were imposed on Roman Abramovich, effectively putting Chelsea under a transfer embargo.
After those sanctions were lifted, Chelsea made another move for Slonina under former director Marina Granovskaia, who has since lost influence following its takeover by the ownership group Todd Boehly-Clearlake.
She was advised by two former goalkeepers in Petr Cech and Christophe Lollichon, who have also left Stamford Bridge this summer.
With co-owner Boehly taking over as interim sporting director, the exciting goalkeeper talent has found interest has waned or he has fallen off the priority list.
Slonina preferred a move to Chelsea, but their lack of contact has led other interested parties to try to exploit the situation.
Chicago Fire goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina was close to sealing a £10m transfer to Chelsea
† AFP via Getty ImagesThe plan was for Chelsea to sign the United States international under-20 and loan him back to his Major League Soccer (MLS) club, where he has already played 29 senior matches.
With Chelsea unable or unwilling to finalize the deal, a host of other clubs have lined up to hijack their talks, including Real Madrid and Wolves who are known to be interested.
Chelsea’s focus is entirely on attracting a great striker, alongside defensive goals to close the gaps left by Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen’s exits to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar have been offered to Chelsea but the £45million signing of Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling was the focus.
The Blues are also waiting for news from Raphinha’s entourage, who hope Barcelona will match Chelsea’s £55million offer already accepted by Leeds.
in defense, Nathan Ake of Manchester City is in advanced talks with Chelseawith Juventus centre-back Matthijs de Ligt drawing serious interest from both Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
Jules Kunde of Sevilla remains an option for Chelsea but has fallen on their list of goals since Boehly runs the club’s transfer business.