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According to Matt Law’s report in the Telegraph, Chelsea have yet to follow-up on a rejected £15 million bid made “earlier in the window” for Leicester City for midfielder Danny Drinkwater, who’s currently sidelined with a thigh injury. While Chelsea’s interest in the 27-year-old has seemingly gotten stronger after the club allowed Nemanja Matic to join José Mourinho at Manchester United, the Blues have not submitted an improved offer after Leicester City rejected the opening lowball “some weeks ago”.
Leicester value Drinkwater at over £30 million due to his key contributions to the team over the last few years, including in their Premier League-winning season when he played alongside N’Golo Kante. While that valuation is apparently well above Chelsea’s own valuation of a player who would at most fill in as a rotational player, given the current market conditions and Chelsea’s need for reinforcements, now is not the time to penny-pinch.
Chelsea will need to pay up if they really mean to follow through on their promises to back Conte in the transfer market.