Chelsea are reportedly willing to shell out a sum of €45 million to sign AC Milan star Theo Hernandez as Thomas Tuchel scours the market for a new left-back.
According to a report from El Nacional, Chelsea are ready to make a push to sign Theo Hernandez from AC Milan in the January transfer window and are willing to pay €45 million for his services.
Having come through the youth ranks at Atletico Madrid, the left-back made a controversial switch to local rivals Real Madrid in 2017 after impressing on a loan spell at Elche. However, he was hardly afforded any playing time at the Santiago Bernabeu by Zinedine Zidane in his debut season.
After spending the 2018/19 campaign out on loan at Real Sociedad, Hernandez was offloaded permanently in 2019 to AC Milan, and the move has worked out great for the Frenchman. The 24-year-old has been a top performer for the Rossoneri over the past two years or so, playing a key role in their rise back to prominence in Italian football.
To date, the left-back has made 101 appearances for the Serie A bigwigs, bagging 17 goals and 18 assists, impressing the onlookers with his attacking capabilities. Capped four times by the French national team, Hernandez has now popped up on the radars of Premier League giants and reigning European champions, Chelsea.
The Blues are left short-handed in the left-back department heading into the new year as Ben Chilwell is ruled out for the season due to a serious knee injury that will need surgery. Marcos Alonso has done fairly well in the absence of the England international, but the Spaniard remains a defensive liability, while he is also attracting interest from Serie A.
Even if he does stay at Stamford Bridge beyond January, the former Fiorentina man will need cover and competition in the position as Chelsea look to compete for the Premier League title and defend their Champions League crown. To that end, they have identified several targets, including Everton’s Lucas Digne, Sergino Dest of Barcelona and Milan’s Theo Hernandez.
The west London giants had approached the Frenchman’s agent to explore the possibility of a transfer. Now, the report mentioned above claims that Chelsea are willing to offer as much as €45 million to AC Milan in exchange for Hernandez’s services in the January transfer window.
The 24-year-old still has over two years left on his contract, and the Rossoneri are under no pressure to sell. So, Chelsea may well need to come up with a bigger offer to tempt the Serie A giants into cashing in on their prized asset.
Indeed Chelsea needs another left back to compete with Marcos Alonso and defensive midfielder to tussle things out. The team is not doing well right now as Kante is prone to injuries.