Chelsea relaunch bid for Euro 2016-winning Portuguese midfielder — report

About a month ago, on the eve of the Euro 2016 final, rumors from Portugal claimed that Chelsea were ready to offer €40m for Joao Mario of Sporting CP.  The 23-year-old midfielder emerged victorious on that night, but nothing further materialized as far as a potential transfer was concerned.

Until yesterday, almost exactly a month later.

Chelsea rival Liverpool with £39m bid for Joao Mario https://t.co/5f3beQavy7 #CFC #LFC pic.twitter.com/jJnWfwUIYe

— Express Sport (@DExpress_Sport) August 11, 2016

While the Express emphasize the Liverpool angle, the report itself is mostly concerned with Chelsea and Inter Milan.  Both teams have submitted bids, both delivered by super-agent Kia Joorabchian who's hoping to broker a deal while navigating the murky waters of the player's 75-25 split ownership (club and some investment group).  Chelsea's offer is now €45m, €5m more than previously rumored, while Inter are offering €45m plus €5m in unspecified add-ons.  However, Chelsea's bid apparently contains more money up front, which Sporting would prefer, and would mean a move to the Premier League, which Joao Mario would prefer.

So, win-win-win?

Well, no.  This story didn't make sense in July and it only makes less sense given that we've only gone and signed N'Golo Kanté since.  So maybe Joorabchian should find another patsy to try to tempt the midfielder to make a big-money move to some big league.