Chelsea are ready to rival Manchester United for the signing of Inter Milan defender Denzel Dumfries this summer, according to reports coming out of Italy.
Both clubs are in need of a right back, with the Blues looking for cover for Reece James while the Red Devils are looking for a first choice option, and it appears that the both pairs of eyes have been drawn to the Dutchman.
Dumfries has only been at San Siro for one season, when an impressive Euro2020 convinced them to bring him to the club as a replacement for Achraf Hakimi. However, his stock has continued to steadily rise, with the 26 year old grabbing 5 goals and 5 assists in 33 Serie A outings in his maiden campaign.
Denzel Dumfries caught the eye playing for Holland during EURO 2020, and could spark a two-way tussle for his services. ANP MAURICE VAN STEEN (Photo by ANP Sport via Getty Images)
Goal.com reports that Inter Milan, who are keen to take Romelu Lukaku on loan, are unwilling to offer Dumfries in exchange for the Belgian striker despite Chelsea’s attempts.
‘The Blues are trying to leverage the situation to poach one of Inter’s defenders”, they claim.
“But the Serie A club are not wanting to include any of Milan Skriniar, Stefan de Vrij, Alessandro Bastoni or Denzel Dumfries”.
£21m bids mooted
Now, as per Gazetta dello Sport, Chelsea and Manchester United have both been quoted around 40m euros to prise the player away from Inter, with the Italian side needing to turn a profit of around 60m euros this summer and keen to do so by offloading as few players as possible.
At present, however, only Chelsea have made an offer, and that was of just 25m euros (£21m). Well below the valuation set by the Serie A side. Whether or not a compromise will be reached or whether Manchester United will swoop in is expected to become clear in the coming days.
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