Chelsea initiate contact for Alex Telles — report

While there is no football at the moment, and overall activity of any kind may be low, some work behind the scenes is always ongoing, far from the eyes of the general public even when the general public aren’t in lockdown and isolation. To wit, several new names were linked to Chelsea over the past week from Marc Cucurella to Marc Andre Ter-Stegen while old names like Moussa Dembélé and André Onana made the headlines once again in the rumor mill.

One name that has been linked repeatedly to Chelsea is FC Porto’s Alex Telles and if a report from A Bola (via Sport Witness) is to be believed, there have been further developments in this saga already.

As per the report, it’s almost inevitable that Telles will leave Porto in the summer. The left back is at a point in his career where he needs a move to a bigger league if he is to cement his legacy and the 27-year-old is planning to use the short duration left on his 2021-expiry contract as leverage to engineer a move away. Like countless other players, Telles supposedly dreams of playing in the Premier League, and Chelsea’s need for a left back resonates with those aspirations.

Chelsea have apparently already initiated talks over a potential transfer but Porto are still holding out for his €40m release clause while also working still to try to extend Telles’ current deal (though he seems to be not too keen on that).

While Chelsea do have other targets as well, like Ben Chilwell, Telles’ relatively cheap price makes him a much more attractive proposition. Either way, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that this saga will continue running through to the summer (and maybe even further beyond if COVID-19 persists).