Plettenberg hands Chelsea boost in pursuit of 23-year-old Portugal international

Transfer News: Chelsea handed boost in their pursuit of Rafael Leao after Manchester United cool interest

According to German journalist Florian Plettenberg via Twitter (h/t Football. London), Chelsea have been handed a boost in their pursuit of AC Milan and Portugal forward Rafael Leao after Manchester United cooled their interest in the player.

The Blues have linked with the 23-year-old for some time now. They were interested in the Milan forward in the summer and initial talks were also held, but nothing could come off it.

United too were in the race for the forward. However, now the Red Devils have cooled their interest as they focus on getting in a new striker at the club after they terminated Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract.

Chelsea are in need of additional reinforcements up front. Despite bringing in Raheem Sterling and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the summer, the Blues have struggled to find the back of the net.

The west London outfit have scored only 17 goals in 14 league games so far, the lowest among the top 10 in the Premier League. Such blanks in front of the goal have cost us precious points and see us sit eighth currently- 16 points behind leaders Arsenal.

The 23-year-old has scored seven goals and registered nine assists in 20 appearances for the Rossoneri this season in all competitions. We have wingers in the form of Sterling, Christian Pulisic, and Mount but Leao is a prolific young wideman who has the potential to supplement our attack with goals.

He also scored for Portugal during their 3-2 win over Ghana earlier this week. The 23-year-old came off the bench and found the back of the net within three minutes on the pitch, his goal ultimately proving to be the winner for his country.

The forward is a regular for his club and it could be tough to negotiate with them for the player. Leao is likely to feature further in the World Cup and one can expect his valuation to skyrocket if he does well there – another potential headache for the Blues.

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It will make more sense if we sign a centre-forward before Leao’s potential signing but if the Portuguese star is there for the taking, the Blues would be wise to at least try and sign him.