Chelsea have proposed three more players to Inter Milan in an effort to try and secure a deal for Achraf Hakimi, with Mateo Kovacic one of the surprise names who could be included in the swap.
The Blues have made signing a new right wing-back one of their top priorities this summer and Hakimi is their number one target, with Inter needing to sell at least one of their star players to balance their books.
Chelsea are already believed to have made an initial offer worth €60million (£51.5m) plus a choice of Emerson Palmieri or Andreas Christensen, but are now trying to sweeten the deal further.
According to Corriere dello Sport, the west London club have now offered three more players to try and tempt Inter into selling: Davide Zappacosta, Tammy Abraham and Kovacic.
The Croatian – who played for Inter before joining Real Madrid – is a real surprise given he has been a key player for Thomas Tuchel, with the coach frequently praising his midfielder.
Zappacosta, though, is surplus to requirements and Chelsea are desperate to offload him, while Abraham has fallen so far down the pecking order he did not even make the bench for the FA Cup and Champions League finals.
Despite Chelsea’s generous offer, the problem they face is that Inter need to free up funds and get players off their wage bill – not add further salaries on multiple players.
At this stage, Inter are said to only be interested in a straight cash deal for Hakimi and are not considering any swap deals, with the Serie A champions holding out for a mammoth fee.
Inter are hopeful of creating a bidding war between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain and believe they can get closer to €80m (£68.7m) for the Morocco international.
There is also a possibility that Inter will not need to sell Hakimi at all if they can find a buyer for Lautaro Martinez instead – who is wanted by Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Barcelona and others – though they are demanding a fee of €90m (£77.2m) for the Argentine striker.
Inter’s asking price may prove to be too much for Chelsea, with the club also looking to bring in a new superstar forward this summer, and they have been linked with a big-money move for Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland.
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