Chelsea submit £26.8m bid for Argentine replacement in an attempt to replace Cesc Fabregas

Chelsea are moving swiftly to replace Cesc Fabregas with the Evening Standard claiming the Blues have bid £26.8m bid for Leandro Paredes.

The Argentine midfielder only joined Zenit St Petersburg in 2017, and the report claims it will take some doing for the Blues to sign the star.

The report adds that Paredes had hinted to Zenit about his desire to join his boyhood club Boca Juniors, however, the Blues will offer him a four-and-a-half year deal with a basic salary of £80,000-a-week.

Maurizio Sarri wants to plug the hole left by Fabregas’ departure and knows Paredes from his time in the Serie A.

The Blues don’t have many playmaker options in their team with Jorginho signed in the summer. The Italian has been our preferred choice in the heart of the midfield alongside N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic.

Paredes has 20 appearances for Zenit this season with three goals and two assists. The Argentine is yet to hit his prime given he is only 24, and it will be interesting to see if we can sign him from the Russian side in the next two weeks.

Chelsea need some additions to the side given we are in a tough battle for the top four places. Manchester United and Arsenal sit six points behind us, and we also have a packed schedule due to our cup commitments.

Read more: Chelsea target could sign new deal at Serie A club if sale doesn’t go through in January

A large squad will be able to deal with the extra games this season, and Chelsea must move quickly in this window to get the right players on board.