Chelsea have entered talks to sign Porto defender Alex Telles and Barcelona playmaker, Philippe Coutinho, according to Italian journalist Nicolo Schira.
Telles, who is valued at £35million, recently hired super-agent Pini Zahavi having previously being represented by his family.
It iss believed Zahavi’s long-standing relationship with Blues owner Roman Abramovich could prove hugely beneficial for the Stamford Bridge club.
Schira says that talks to bring Barcelona forward Coutinho, 27, back to the Premier League are also underway with Tottenham also interested.
“Chelsea are in talks to sign Alex Telles (Porto want €40M) and Coutinho (also Tottenham are interested in him),” Schira tweeted. “The good relationship with their agents Pini Zahavi and Kia Joorabchian could help Blues to finalise the deal.”
Chelsea are free to make signings again after their two-window transfer ban was halved by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Chelsea were initially sanctioned by FIFA in February, 2019 after breaching article 19 of its regulations on the status and transfer of players, which concerns the protection of minors. The club were also found to have breached article 18, concerning third-party influence.
The Blues lodged an appeal last April before documents released by FIFA in October revealed its appeals committee found that the club had breached regulations on 150 occasions.
However, CAS’ verdict reduced the initial ban to the one window already served by the club, meaning Frank Lampard is free to invest in his squad from January, 2020.
Meanwhile, it is yet unknown when the 2019/2020 season will be concluded following the COVID-19 pandemic that is sweeping across the globe right now.
The English Football Association says that it remained committed to finding a way in which to conclude the season and is open to playing up until the end of June
The FA has confirmed that there will be no professional football in England, including the Premier League, until at least April 30 as a result of the outbreak.
Initially, fixtures in the country were suspended until the weekend of April 3-5 as a minimum, but this has been extended as the UK battles the pandemic.
