Chelsea favorites and in pole position for Monaco midfielder

The vultures are circling the picturesque city and stadium of Monaco, just waiting for the season to be over, ready to descend and pluck and peck and pick apart European football’s biggest darlings of the year. Chelsea are no doubt one of those vultures, one of the fatter and stronger ones, even, able to beat most of the others to the prize if we put our minds to it.

Having already been linked to the vast majority of the Champions League semifinalists’ squad, one of the names that comes up most frequently is midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko. The 22-year-old French international has been a mainstay in the Chelsea rumor mill since January and despite a come-and-get-me plea to PSG and possible Manchester United interest, Chelsea remain favorites for his signature.

A little over a month ago, we’ve already had a report that Chelsea have agreed personal terms with the midfielder, which, if true, means that the only hold-up is the selling price. Chelsea’s most recent bid was rumored to be €38m (plus bonuses), which is a fairly standard amount these days for any good player.

Meanwhile, another Chelsea-linked midfielder popped back into the news this weekend, as Franck Kessié’s agent continues to woo Premier League interest for his client who’s been unable to agree personal terms for an AS Roma move just yet.

But since a €25m bid from Chelsea was rejected in the winter by Atalanta, the 20-year-old has looked much more likely to end up somewhere other than SW6, and nothing in these new rumors make me thing that situation has changed much at all.