It wouldn't be a summer without Chelsea getting linked to several players in Portugal, as the talent factories of Porto, Benfica, et al. churn out the latest and greatest imports from lands across ocean and sea. Here to kick us off in this regard is O Jogo, who claim that Chelsea are not only after Yacine Brahimi but are now leading the race for him.
Selon O Jogo, Yacine Brahimi est tout proche de rejoindre Chelsea. La somme de 30M€ est évoquée. #CFC pic.twitter.com/8mkOrANgap
— French Blues (@FrenchCFC) June 7, 2016
Surprisingly, Porto are looking to make a deal here — a big departure from their usual fleecing tactics — with the €30m fee just half the player's buyout clause. FFP compliance is the apparent motivating factor behind this change of pace since the last time we were linked with the winger.
The 26-year-old Algerian international has spent the last two seasons at Porto, scoring 21 times in 85 matches. You might remember him putting in a man of the match performance and running circles around Branislav Ivanovic in our first meeting this season (though we did a much better job of keeping him quiet in the second meeting). Playing well against Chelsea is often the golden ticket to a future transfer. Did we leave one behind for Brahimi to find?