Chelsea handed double boost as Barcelona duo on their radar turns down contract proposals

Chelsea get twin transfer boost as Barcelona duo Ronald Araujo and Gavi reject new contract offers

According to the Spanish publication Marca (h/t The Sun), Chelsea have received two transfer boosts from Ronald Araujo and Gavi as they reject two new contract offers from Barcelona. Uncertainty has seeped into their future at Camp Nou following repeated failures to extend their current deals.

Araujo and Gavi will enter the final year of their respective contracts at the end of next season. As such, Barca are looking to tie them down on new deals but have failed to make an impact so far. They have rejected the latest proposals from their club after being disappointed by how “insufficient” the effort was.

The Blues benefit from this situation as the Catalans could be forced to part ways with them this summer. However, they are not the only interested party in the transfer race, as Manchester United have also been monitoring the duo. The London based club have been restricted by the transfer ban, making them helpless in this case despite their interests.

Possible deals?

Signing the Blaugrana duo would be a massive coup from our side if we can pull it off somehow. Any potential moves would not be easy at all with Man United currently “better placed” to sign Araujo. As for Gavi, he also has interest from Liverpool, adding to the competition that we need to overcome.

We have some work to do if there are plans to push forward with our pursuit this summer. The restrictions must be lifted, so the club officials must find a way to convince the UK Government to help with our case. After all, the club is also a cultural asset and protecting our interests should be integral as well.

Let’s hope to see a positive outcome in that regard so that we can pip the Red Devils, who are leading the race for Araujo. As for Gavi, we have a great opportunity to sign him for just £42million before July, after which his release clause increases to £100million.

We are desperate for a centre-back addition, especially when Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azpilcueta are expected to leave on free transfers this summer. Not to mention, we also need to replace Thiago Silva moving forward, making Araujo a kind of necessity. Whether we can sign the Uruguayan or not remains to be seen.

More Chelsea News

• Transfer News: West Ham are asking for a British record £150million to sell Declan Rice
• Transfer News: Emerson Palmieri set to come back to Chelsea at the end of Lyon loan move
• Chelsea receive new injury update on Andreas Christensen as he may miss March’s friendlies for Denmark

We are blessed with midfield options right now, but we would need to look forward to the future. N’Golo Kante and Jorginho are in the latter stages of their playing careers, whereas Saul Niguez could return to Atletico Madrid after this term. Ross Barkley has been cast aside and would need to be sold, whereas we can also replace Ruben Loftus-Cheek with a better option.

Even Mason Mount has often been used as an attacker rather than a midfielder opening up further spots for Gavi. The 17-year-old has lots of years left in his bag and is already a regular for the La Liga giants and the Spanish national team. But only time will tell if we can add him to our squad or not in the future.