This isn't going to be a popular one. Chelsea are apparently super-popular with the Italian press, and we're being linked to yet another Serie A midfielder in AC Milan's Kevin-Prince Boateng.
Chelsea contacted Milan for Kevin Prince Boateng, according to Sky Italy
— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) June 7, 2013
It's 15m € the bid Chelsea is preparing for Boateng. And Milan is VERY keen to sell. Hardly these deals don't go through
— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) June 7, 2013
'Wait a second!' I can hear you say. 'Wasn't Kevin-Prince Boateng the [eek]ing mother[yikes!]er who ended Michael Ballack's Chelsea career in 2010?' Yes. Yes he was. On the other hand, he's a fine player who's worth well over the quoted price, and I'm really surprised that Milan would be willing to let him go for so little -- they might consider starting a bidding war for him at the very least.
Boateng, 26, has mostly been used high up the pitch at the head of a diamond, because Max Allegri is kind of crazy like that, but he's versatile enough to play across the midfield/injure much better players and rule them out of the World Cup from many different starting positions. There's not much to dislike from a financial standpoint here.
But that doesn't mean I like this idea at all. I'm fine with Boateng in Milan; I can forgive him for injuring Ballack when he's nice and far away. But at Chelsea? That's just weird and wrong. Not that the board has demonstrated that it cares about such considerations over the past year or so.
Anyway, my guess is that this is Boateng's representatives fishing for a contract extension. The price doesn't make sense for Milan and the destination club only makes sense if you ignore the emotion. If there's anything beyond agents playing games to this ruour, I'll be fairly surprised.