Chelsea have sounded out Shakhtar Donetsk over the availability of their Brazilian midfielder Douglas Costa as they explore potential recruits in anticipation of losing at least one first-team player before next month’s transfer deadline.
Douglas, with the Ukrainian club’s squad on a tour of South America, may prove a more cost-efficient addition than Fiorentina’s Juan Cuadrado, for whom Fiorentina are insisting Chelsea meet the £26.8m buyout clause in his contract. Talks with the Italian club are ongoing in the hope a compromise can be struck but there are potential complications with that deal, with the Roma manager Vincenzo Montella having apparently threatened to quit if the Colombian is sold. With that situation delicately poised, the Premier League leaders have also spoken with Shakhtar and suggested they would be willing to pay up to £20m to secure the 24-year-old Costa.
That falls short of his current club’s valuation– much nearer to £30m – but Chelsea have received sufficient encouragement to believe there is scope for further negotiation.The Brazil international, who has been capped only twice but has dual Portuguese nationality and should qualify for a work permit, is into his fifth season at the Ukrainian club having joined from Grêmio in 2010 for around £4.5m.
Both Chelsea and Manchester United had scouted him as a teenager and continued to track his progress. The player indicated this week that he would favour a switch to London. “It’s a dream to play for Chelsea, a unique opportunity,” he told the Brazilian newspaper, Globo Esporte. “I am trying to negotiate [a departure].”
Chelsea’s interest in Cuadrado and Douglas stems from the likelihood that Mohamed Salah will depart Stamford Bridge for Roma this month, initially on loan until the summer when the move will be made permanent, after a disappointing year in English football.
The Germany forward André Schürrle could also leave if Wolfsburg or Borussia Dortmund lodge an acceptable bid and persuade him to return to the Bundesliga. Both players remain in José Mourinho’s plans for now and, as things stand, will start Saturday’s FA Cup fourth-round tie against Bradford City.
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