Chelsea consider a move for PSG star Leandro Paredes as an alternative for Moises Caicedo
According to Evening Standard, Chelsea are eyeing a move for PSG midfielder Leandro Paredes with the Moises Caicedo deal not going anywhere.
A few days ago, Brighton rejected a bid worth £80m from the Blues for the Ecuador international. They are hell-bent on getting £100m+ for him this summer, referring to the money Arsenal paid to sign Declan Rice.
Sky Sports have revealed that the Seagulls understand no club would match their asking price for Caicedo in this window. Hence, they are confident about keeping him beyond August 31.
Keeping that situation in mind, Chelsea are looking at the possibility to sign Paredes from PSG. The Argentine international has worked with Mauricio Pochettino before when the latter was managing the French champions. They are of course from the same country as well.
Paredes, who was on loan at Juventus last season, has entered the final year of his contract in Paris (Transfermarkt). So, he would be available for a reasonable price in this transfer window.
The 29-year-old is a defensive midfielder who can operate in different positions across the central regions of the field. Although Chelsea do not sign players of that age very often under the current ownership, Pochettino wants to add experience with quality to the central midfield department.
After the departure of a number of experienced players from that area, Chelsea are left with only Enzo Fernandez and Conor Gallagher as senior options. That cannot be labelled as enough to start the season with.
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Paredes is a highly experienced player who is good at passing, can get stuck into tackles and is hot-headed at times. He can potentially form a good partnership with his international teammate Fernandez in the middle of the park. The fact that he is available for a reasonable price due to his contract should make it a rather more attractive prospect for Chelsea.