EXCLUSIVE: Chelsea to make £72m bid for Pogba (and push ahead £40m Stones move)

Jose Mourinho wants to bring Paul Pogba to Chelsea

CHELSEA are ready to smash the British transfer record and pay up to £72million to land Paul Pogba after owner Roman Abramovich gave the go-ahead for a second bid this week.

Chelsea have had an opening offer of around £55m rejected by Juventus.

Abramovich had indicated he would not be willing to pay more than £60m for the 22-year-old France midfielder, but manager Jose Mourinho is so keen to have Pogba in his line-up that Chelsea will now make one final bid during this transfer window to break the Italian club's resolve.

 

It is likely to be a cash offer with Chelsea, who have already lent Colombian winger Juan Cuadrado to Juve in a deal finalised yesterday, reluctant to let any more squad players go.

It is also an offer which will not affect Chelsea's bid to sign Everton defender John Stones, which is set to near the £40m mark in the next few days when they make a fourth bid for the England player.

 

But if Juve refuse to lower their asking price or compromise, Chelsea plan to try to work on a deal for next summer even though they are expected to face competition from Barcelona, whose transfer ban will have ended.

Chelsea have already splashed out £42m on Spain winger Pedro - who scored on his debut in the 3-2 win at West Brom on Sunday - and Ghana full-back Baba Rahman, and Cesar Azpicilueta issued a warning to the Premier League last night that Pedro is going to get even better.

Lively, skilful and aggressive, the 28-year-old adapted to the pace and physicality of the English game straight away.

 

He scored his first goal after just 20 minutes then set up Diego Costa for his goal and provided several other chances.

Azpilicueta, who scored the third, said: "I know Pedro's ambition. He is hungry to help the team and win trophies. The way he started his first game is amazing.

"I know from playing with him with the national team that he is a top player. He will fit into the Premier League. And he will get better. He has only trained with us for one week."

 

Pedro took the unusual step of flying back to Spain yesterday to hold a farewell press conference which was attended by many of his former team-mates.

He explained his reasons for leaving Barcelona as his time on the pitch decreased with the arrival of Luis Suarez. He also said he could find it a problem if he were to play for Chelsea gainst Barcelona.

"I just hope I don't have to face Barca or step out at the Nou Camp wearing another jersey. It would be difficult, I wouldn't like it," he said.

Chelsea are close to reaching an agreement to play their home matches at Wembley from 2017 while Stamford Bridge is revamped to take its capacity to 60,000.