Chelsea have been presented with a swap deal opportunity with Barcelona, having reportedly expressed an interest in signing young defender Pau Cubarsi.
Reports claimed earlier this month that Barcelona were keen on snapping up Ian Maatsen from Chelsea with the wing-back’s deal close to expiring. However, Chelsea have since triggered a clause in his contract to extend his deal for a further 12 months amid fears he could’ve left for free next summer.
As Barcelona are a foreign club, they would’ve been able to discuss a pre-contract agreement with Maatsen in January before Chelsea acted swiftly. However, the Dutchman, who nearly left the club for Burnley last summer in a £31.5m deal, could still end up leaving as Chelsea are said to be ready to cash in on him if he refuses to commit his future to them and sign a longer-term contract.
With Chelsea eyeing up a move for Cubarsi, Barcelona may be tempted to use him as a sweetener in a bid to bring Maatsen to the club. According to Spanish publication Sport, Chelsea pushed to sign the 16-year-old in the summer before he opted to extend his stay with Barcelona.
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The report claims the player was tempted by the prospect of joining Chelsea and that the Blues are still keen on him and would be more than willing to pay his £13m release clause.
But Chelsea could save themselves the money and open up swap deal talks with Barcelona. Maatsen, who has been used sparingly by Mauricio Pochettino this season, playing just 83 minutes of Premier League action, would likely fetch a price of at least £30m, meaning Chelsea could demand a fee in the region of £20m plus Cubarsi to strike a deal with Barcelona.
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Cubarsi is a central defender and fits the profile of player that Chelsea have gone after in the Todd Boehly era. Chelsea have splashed out huge sums on teenage sensations, with the likes of Kendry Paez, Angelo, Andrey Santos, Deivid Washington and Romeo Lavia all joining for well in excess of £100m.
And Cubarsi is similarly tipped to have a bright future, having already broken into the Barcelona U19 set-up and represented Spain’s U17s 13 times aged just 16. Although Chelsea would be signing him with one eye on the future, Pochettino is in need of defensive reinforcements with Wesley Fofana out for the season and Trevoh Chalobah set to leave in January.
The versatile centre-back is already considering his options after a deadline-day move to Bayern Munich collapsed. Pochettino is also expected to sanction Chalobah’s departure this winter so he can potentially reinvest some cash into his backline with the club meandering in mid-table after nine games.
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